avatiakh attempts 12 in 12 #2

This is my 4th year doing the challenge and I really enjoy having this focus. I'm not setting the number of books per category, though I hope to read at least 6 books in each one. I'll possibly divide some categories into adult and YA/childrens sections as I read a lot of YA/children's lit.

1) Favourite Writers & Rereads 18/12 FINISHED
2) Israel & the Diaspora 12/12 FINISHED
3) Australia 18/12 FINISHED
4) New Zealand 25/12 FINISHED
5) Fact not Fiction 13/12 FINISHED
6) Short n' Sweet 15/12 FINISHED
7) Neverending Stories - series 20/12 FINISHED
8) God is Back - religious themes/retellings in fiction 6/12 FINISHED
9) Big Boys - chunksters / omnibus editions 8/12 FINISHED
10) The Crowded Nest - Mt tbr 21/12 FINISHED
11) The Lists - booklists, longlists, shortlists, award winners etc 21/12 FINISHED
12) Dropbox - anything goes 37/12 FINISHED
Baker's Dozen bonus Category - graphic novels & picturebooks

My current reading can be followed here:
My 75 Books Challenge for 2012: avatiakh tackles Mt tbr in 2012 #5
My Orange January/July 2012 challenge is here

Links back into 2011:
Kerry's 11in11
My 75 books challenge part 4 where I'm up to 211 books so far and still reading

1) Favourite Writers & Rereads:

I like to revisit some writers such as Graham Greene and Jane Austen from time to time and with Greene there are still a few I have yet to read. Also I want to continue reading newer favourites.
(RR) will denote a re-read

1) Persuasion by Jane Austen (RR) - finished 09 Jan
2) Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (RR) - finished 14 Feb
3) The Confidential Agent by Graham Greene - finished 19 Mar
4) The Captain and the Enemy by Graham Greene - finished 21 Mar
5) The third Man by Graham Greene - finished 28 Apr
6) The Waiting Game by Bernice Rubens - finished 07 Jul
7) Stonemouth by Iain Banks - finished 01 Aug
8) Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones - finished 27 Oct
9) The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien - finished 25 Nov

YA/children's
1) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling (RR) - finished 08 Jan
2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling (RR) - finished 02 Mar
3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling (RR) - finished 18 Mar
4) Life: an exploded diagram by Mal Peet - finished 19 Mar
5) The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson - finished 06 Sep
6) The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones - finished 29 Sep
7) Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones - finished 03 Oct
8) All fall down by Sally Nicholls - finished 20 Oct
9) Who could that be at this hour? by Lemony Snicket - finished 08 Nov

Possibles:
The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene
The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer (RR)
A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth
Smiley's People by John Le Carre (RR)

YA/children's
Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick
Bloodsong by Melvin Burgess

2) Israel & the Diaspora

Books by Israeli writers, Jewish writers or about Israel or the Jewish world. I have many many holocaust themed books on my tbr but also want to read modern Israeli fiction.

1) The Red Magician by Lisa Goldstein - finished 13 Feb
2) Path of the Orange Peels by Nahum Gutman - finished 20 Feb
3) The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman - finished 04 Apr
4) Under the Domim Tree by Gil Almagor - finished 20 May
5) The Jump Artist by Austin Ratner - finished 29 May
6) Suddenly a knock on the door by Etger Keret - finished 10 Jun
7) Disobedience by Naomi Alderman - finished 13 Jul
8) Only Yesterday by S Y Agnon - finished 13 Jul
9) What we talk about when we talk about Anne Frank by Nathan Englander - finished 15 Jul
10) I am forbidden by Anouk Markovits - finished 07 Aug
11) The Same Sea by Amos Oz - finished 13 Sep
12) A Woman in Jerusalem by A.B. Yehoshua - finished 05 Nov

Possibles:
The River Midnight by Lilian Nattel
A Journey to the end of the Millenium by A.B. Yehoshua
Great House by Nicole Krauss
Homesick by Eshkol Nevo
Thirty-Three Candles by David Horowitz

YA/children's
Samir And Yonatan by Daniella Carmi

3) Australia
I had a Down Under category in 2011 which included books from New Zealand and Australia, but now I want to separate the two countries and delve deeper into their respective literatures. I hope to read books by Peter Carey, Rodney Hall, Thomas Keneally, Gail Jones, Patrick White as well as lots of YA and children's books.

1) Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey - finished 18 Apr
2) A Man you can bank on by Derek Hansen - finished 09 May
3) Dragon Man by Garry Disher - finished 19 Aug
4) Love, honour and O'Brien by Jennifer Rowe - finished 02 Sep
5) Kittyhawk Down by Garry Disher - finished Sep
6) The cleansing of Mahommed by Chris McCourt - finished 01 Oct
7) Lunch with the Generals by Derek Hansen - finished 28 Dec

YA/childrens
1) Walkabout by James Vance Marshall - finished 15 Jan
2) A confusion of princes by Garth Nix - finished 20 Mar
3) A brief history of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper - finished 25 Apr
4) The FitzOsbornes in exile by Michelle Cooper - finished 04 May
5) Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan - finished 13 Jun
6) The Bamboo Flute by Garry Disher - finished 03 Jul
7) Queen of the Night by Leanne Hall - finished 12 Sep
8) Surface Tension by Meg McKinlay - finished 13 Oct
9) Genius Squad by Catherine Jinks - finished 04 Nov
10) The Divine Wind by Garry Disher - finished 24 Dec
11) Crow Country by Kate Constable - finished 29 Dec

Possibles:
The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
Just Relations, Silence or The last love story by Rodney Hall
The French Tutor by Judith Armstrong
Notorious by Roberta Lowing
Black Mirror by Gail Jones
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally
The Vivisector by Patrick White
Breath by Tim Winton

YA/childrens
Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta

To browse through:
Australian Classics: 50 great writers and their celebrated works by Jane Gleeson-White

4) New Zealand
Every year as I attend the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival I'm exposed to so many interesting homegrown writers, so I need to read more and more from my stockpile of NZ fiction - Emily Perkins, Nigel Cox, Owen Marshall, Sue Orr, Janet Frame etc etc

1) Death of a superhero by Anthony McCarten - finished 14 Apr
2) In the absence of heroes by Anthony MCarten - finished 20 May
3) Rangatira by Paula Morris - finished 27 May
4) Owls do Cry by Janet Frame - finished 27 Aug

YA/childrens:
1) Assault by Brian Falkner - finished 21 Jan
2) Yes by Deborah Burnside - finished 02 Mar
3) The Half Life of Ryan Davis by Melinda Szymanik - finished 05 Mar
4) The Flytrap Snaps by Johanna Knox - finished 08 Mar
5) Nest of Lies by Heather McQuillan - finished 08 Mar
6) Calling the Gods by Jack Lasenby - finished 13 Mar
7) Super Finn by Leonie Agnew - finished 14 Mar
8) The Bridge by Jane Higgins - finished 29 Mar
9) Iris's ukelele by Kathy Taylor - finished 30 Mar
10) Finder's Shore by Anna MacKenzie - finished 07 Apr
11) Dirt Bomb by Fleur Beale - finished 14 Apr
12) Earth Dragon, fire hare by Ken Catran - finished 26 May
13) The loblolly boy and the sorcerer by James Norcliffe - finished 06 Jun
14) The scent of apples by Jacquie McRae - finished 29 Jun
15) Ransomwood by Sherryl Jordan - finished 18 Jul
16) Red Rocks by Rachael King - finished 03 Aug
17) Telling Lies by Tricia Glensor - finished 22 Oct
18) Steel Pelicans by Des Hunt finished 25 Oct
19) When Empire Calls by Ken Catran - finished 13 Nov
20) The Enchanted Flute by James Norcliffe - finished 15 Nov
21) My Brother's War by David Hill - finished 22 Nov
22) The greatest show off earth by Margaret Mahy - finished 18 Dec

Possibles:
Novel about my wife by Emily Perkins
Magpie Hall by Rachael King
The God Boy by Ian Cross
Tarzan Presley by Nigel Cox
Gifted by Patrick Evans
The Larnachs by Owen Marshall
Somebody Loves us all by Damien Wilkins
Hand me down world by Lloyd Jones
Baby no-eyes by Patricia Grace
Quinine by Kelly Ana Morey
Lunch with the Generals by Derek Hansen
Billie's Kiss by Elizabeth Knox

YA/childrens

The Shattering by Karen Healey
Again the Bugles Blow by Ron Bacon

5) Fact not Fiction
I have a tutored read planned with Dr Neutron over on the 75 challenge group, he is going to help me read through Gödel, Escher, Bach: an eternal golden braid. If I can get through this one, I'll be adding mainly literary memoirs/biographies and travel memoirs to the mix.

1) How to play a video game by Pippin Barr - finished 17 Jan
2) Twelve minutes of love: a tango story by Kapka Kassabova - finished 11 Mar
3) My family and other animals by Gerald Durrell - finished 21 Apr
4) Phantoms on the bookshelves by Jaques Bonnet - finished 23 May
5) The sweet life in Paris by David Lebovitz - finished 03 Jun
6) Life by Keith Richards - finished 08 Jun
7) The Whispering Land by Gerald Durrell - finished 22 Jun
8) Robert Capa: the definitive collection by Richard Whelan - finished 06 Sep
9) Recipe for Murder: Frightfully Good Food Inspired by Fiction by Esterelle Payany - finished 08 Oct
10) Long ago in France by M.F.K. Fisher - finisihed 12 Oct
11) A Russian Journal by John Steinbeck finished 17 Oct
12) But Beautiful: a book about Jazz by Geoff Dyer - finished 11 Nov
13) A zoo in my luggage by Gerald Durrell - finished 27 Dec

Possibles:
Gödel, Escher, Bach: an eternal golden braid by Douglas Hofstadter

6) Short n' Sweet
Since joining LT I've really dived in and started enjoying short story collections, so here is my spot for adding anything short - collections, essays, anthologies, folk/fairy tales.

1) American Ghosts and Old World Wonders by Angela Carter - finished 19 Jan
2) Proxopera a tale of Modern Ireland by Benedict Kiely - finished 18 Mar
3) The Metamorphosis by Frank Kafka - finished 18 Apr
4) The Tiny Wife by Andrew Kaufman - finished 27 Apr
5) Killer App & other paranormal stories - Penguin India - finished 07 Oct
6) Amber Amulet by Craig Silvey - finished 10 Oct
7) House of Dolls by Francesca Lia Block - finished 15 Oct
8) This is how you lose her by Junot Diaz - finished 26 Nov
9) Mozart's Journey to Prague by Eduard Mörike - finished 05 Dec
10) The Oopsatoreum by Shaun Tan - finished 08 Dec
11) The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories ed. Joseph Gordon-Levitt - finished 08 Dec
12) Foster by Claire Keegan - finished 09 Dec
13) The Auschwitz Violin by Maria Àngels Anglada - finished 14 Dec
14) First Love by Ivan Turgenev - finished 28 Dec
15) Writing in the Dark: essays on literature and politics by David Grossman - finished 31 Dec

Possibles:
Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan (Ireland)
My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead: great love stories - ed. Jeffrey Eugenides (US)
From under the overcoat by Sue Orr (NZ)
Selected stories of Patricia Highsmith by Patricia Highsmith

7) Neverending stories
I have so many series on the go, so this is where a few must come to an end. My focus will be on Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time and Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles. Hopefully this is where I can also place a few fantasy and scifi books.

1) The Necropolis Railway by Andrew Martin (Jim Stringer #1) - finished 15 Jan
2) The Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (Lymond #3) - finished 07 Feb
3) Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds (Revelation Space #4) - finished 08 Feb
4) Instruments of Darkness by Robert Wilson (Bruce Medway #1) - finished 25 Mar
5) The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri (Montalbano #14) - finished 09 Jul
6) The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books #3) - finished 04 Aug
7) Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch (Peter Grant #3) - finished 14 Aug
8) The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds (Revelation Space #5) - finished 16 Aug
9) A Wanted Man by Lee Child (Jack Reacher #17) - finished 24 Sep
10) The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin (Malcolm Fox #2) - finished 22 Oct
11) Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (Lymond #4) - finished 27 Nov
12) Standing in another man's grave by Ian Rankin (Inspector Rebus #18) - finished 06 Dec

YA/childrens
1) Finder's Shore by Anna MacKenzie (Sea-wreck stranger #3) - finished 09 Apr
2) Insurgent by Veronica Roth (Divergent #2) - finished 28 Jun
3) The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #2) - finished 06 Jul
4) The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #3) - finished 17 Jul
5) Celandine by Steve Augarde (Touchstone #2) - finished 13 Aug
6) Winter Wood by Steve Augarde (Touchstone #3) - finished 25 Aug
7) Dark Calling by Darren Shan (Demonata #9) - finished 28 Sep
8) Hell's Heroes by Darren Shan (Demonata #10) - finished 01 Oct
9) Scramasax by Kevin Crossley-Holland (Viking Sagas #2) - finished 05 Nov
10) Guardian Angel by Robert Muchamore (CHERUB #14) - finished 04 Dec

Probables:
The Valley of Bones by Anthony Powell (DttMoT #7)
The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks (Culture #3)
A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire #4)

YA/childrens
Ironhand by Charlie Fletcher (Stoneheart #2)

8) God is Back
I noticed when looking at some of my fiction books that there was a recurring theme of retelling biblical stories or mythologies so I thought it might be interesting to focus on a few of these books, and actually reading God is Back which has been on my tbr pile since listening to Adrian Wooldridge talk a couple of years ago.

1) God is Back: How the global revival of faith is changing the World by John Micklethwait & Adrian Wooldridge - finished 13 Jun
2) The Fire Gospel by Michael Faber - finished 04 Sep
3) Lion's Honey by David Grossman - finished 19 Sep
4) The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman (UK) - finished 25 Sep
5) Ragnarok: The End of the Gods by A S Byatt (UK) - finished 05 Oct
6) My name was Judas by C.K. Stead (NZ) - finished 15 Oct

tbr

1) The Book of Rachael by Leslie Cannold (Aust)
2) The Four Wise Men by Michel Tournier (Fr)
3) Not wanted on the voyage by Timothy Findley (Canada)

9) Big Boys
I tend to avoid chunksters or omnibus editions when doing this challenge but now that I've lowered my hit rate per category there is a place once again for these monsters.

1) Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (961pgs) - finished 03 Oct - audio
2) The Circle by Sara Elfgren & Mats Strandberg (596pgs) - finished 02 Aug
3) Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton (1144pgs) - finished 18 Sep - audio
4) Judas Unchained by Peter F Hamilton (1235pgs) - finished 25 Oct - audio
5) 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (925 pgs) - finished 31 Oct
6) Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton (1087pgs) - finished 03 Dec
7) Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (512pgs) - finished 06 Dec - audio
8) Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (513pgs) - finished 29 Dec

Possibles:
King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Penman

10) The Crowded Nest
Mt tbr must be tackled and here's where I'll throw all the odds n ends as I read from the mountain. Criteria: I need to have owned the book for at least two years or it has to have been published at least 5 years ago. No place for the new or shiny here.

1) Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon - finished 26 Mar
2) Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami - finished 08 Apr
3) Ethan Fromme by Edith Wharton - finished 24 Apr
4) The Fairy Gunmother by Daniel Pennac - finished 12 May
5) Brief interviews with hideous men by David Foster Wallace - finished 20 May
6) Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson - finished 12 Jul
7) Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban - finished 23 July
8) The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson - finished 16 Aug
9) Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro - finished 18 Aug
10) The Helmet of Horror by Victor Pelevin - finished 02 Sep
11) The Radleys by Matt Haig - finished 04 Oct
12) A high wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes - finished 08 Nov
13) The City & the City by China Miéville - finished 23 Nov
14) Misspent Youth by Peter F Hamilton - finished 26 Dec
15) A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens - finished 31 Dec

YA/Childrens
1) Eye of the wolf by Daniel Pennac - finished 10 Apr
2) Box by Penelope Todd - finished 17 Apr
3) Atherton: the House of Power by Patrick Carman - finished 03 May
4) The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden - finished 15 Aug
5) The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson - finished 01 Oct
6) White Cat by Holly Black - finished 21Dec

Possibles:
A Means of Grace by Edith Pargeter

YA/Childrens
The Gentle Falcon by Hilda Lewis

11) The Lists
- booklists, longlists, shortlists, award winners. I needed a spot for all the wonderful books that get buzzed about by LTers who read from the 1001 books, Booker Prize Longlists, the Guardian 1000 Books List, the Orange Prize etc etc. Also I can place translated fiction here as a lot of excellent books end up on the International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award Longlist each year.
I also source a fair bit of reading from 501 Writers, 1001 Children's books you must read before you grow up, Rough Guide to Cult Fiction etc etc.

1) The Hunter by Julia Leigh (Orange Prize longlist, 2000), (Aust) - finished 06 Jan
2) How the soldier repairs the gramophone by Saša Stanišic (International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award Longlist, 2010, Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction finalist (2009), Bremer Literaturpreis for Förderpreis (2007)), (Germany/Bosnia) - finished 23 Jun
3) Gillespie and I by Jane Harris (2012 Orange Prize longlist) - finished 08 Jul
4) The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2012 Orange Prize winner) - finished 28 Jul
5) Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz (Nobel Prize 1988) - finished 01 Sep

YA/Children's
1) Reach by Hugh Brown (Tessa Duder Award, 2011), (NZ) - finished 21 Apr
2) The trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly (Newbery Medal, 1929), (US) - finished 23 Apr
3) The hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea (1001 children's books you must read before you grow up) finished 30 Jun
4) This is shyness by Leanne Hall (Text Prize for YA & Children's writing, 2009) - finished 11 Aug
5) Varjak Paw by SF Said (Smarties Prize Gold Award 2003) - finished 29 Aug
6) Horten's miraculous mechanisms by Lissa Evans (Carnegie Medal shortlist, 2012) - finished 19 Sep
7) Airman by Eoin Colfer (Carnegie Medal Shortlist, 2009) - finished 25 Sep
8) The Satanic Mill by Otfried Preußler (Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for Jugendbuch,1972) - finished 16 Oct
9) Inside out & back again by Thanhha Lai (National Book Award for Young People's Literature, 2011) - finished 18 Oct
10) Erebos by Ursula Poznanski (German Youth Book Prize - Winner - Youth Jury, 2011) - finished 19 Oct
11) A hen in the wardrobe by Wendy Meddour (The John C Laurence Award, 2010) - finished 17 Oct
12) Fire in the Sea by Myke Bartlett (Text Prize for YA & Children's writing, 2011) - finished 23 Oct
13) The Composition by Antonio Skármeta (Americas Book Award & the Jane Adams Award, 2000) - finished 04 Nov
14) Crusade in Jeans by Thea Beckman (Europese jeugdboekenprijs (historische roman, 1976) - finished 10 Nov
15) Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin (Newbery Honour Book, 2012) - finished 13 Nov
16) Goblin Secrets by William Alexander (National Book Award, 2012) - finished 20 Nov
17) Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner (Costa Book Awards shortlist, 2012) - finished 28 Nov

Possibles:
1) The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst (Booker Prize longlist, 2011), (UK)
2) The Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills (Booker Prize shortlist, 1998), (UK)
3) And the land lay still by James Robertson (Scottish Book of the Year, 2010), (UK)
4) A visit from the goon squad by Jennifer Egan (Pullitzer Prize, 2011), (US)
5) Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis (1001 Books/Guardian 1000), (Greece)
6) The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić (Nobel, 1961), (Serbia)

YA/children's
1) River Boy by Tim Bowler (Carnegie Medal, 1997)
2) The Lark on the Wing by Elfrida Vipont (Carnegie Medal, 1950)

12) Dropbox
My 'anything goes' category, a catch-all for the new and shiny, the library books that jump at me from the shelves, the books I just simply 'must read' now.

1) The Concert Ticket by Olga Grushin - finished 05 Jan
2) Iron House by John Hart - finished 11 Jan (Group Read - Jan)
3) Don't look back by Karin Fossum - finished Jan 25
4) Translation is a Love Affair by Jacques Poulin - finished 04 Feb
5) The boy in the suitcase by Lene Kaaberbøl - finished 27 Mar
6) Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal - finished 04 Apr
7) Me and You by Niccolo Ammaniti - finished 04 Apr
8) Mister Blue by Jaques Poulin - finished 03 May
9) The Whispering Muse by Sjon - finished 27 Aug
10) The Cry of the Go-Away Bird by Andrea Eames - finished 07 Sep
11) A wild sheep chase by Haruki Murakami - finished 14 Nov
12) Notes from an exhibition by Patrick Gale - finished 15 Nov
13) Waiting for Robert Capa by Susana Fortes - finished 18 Dec

Children's/YA
1) Giuseppe by Kurt Held - finished 20 Jan
2) Why we broke up by Daniel Handler - finished 01 Feb
3) Between shades of gray by Ruta Sepetys - finished 06Mar
4) Divergent by Veronica Roth - finished 12 Mar
5) Children of the Red King by Madeleine Polland - finished 21 Mar
6) Blood Red Road by Moira Young - finished 07 Apr
7) Cinder by Marissa Meyer - finished 08 Apr
8) The other side of the island by Allegra Goodman - finished 10 Apr
8) Dark warning by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick - finished 12 Apr
9) Dirty little secrets by CJ Omololu - finished 21 Apr
10) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein - finished 27 Apr
11) Icefall by Matthew Kirby - finished 09 June
12) Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1) by Leigh Bardugo - finished 05 Jul
13) The Dungeon by Lynne Reid Banks - finished 05 Aug
14) The Outlaw Varjak Paw by SF Said - finished 10 Sep
15) Earwig and the witch by Diana Wynne Jones - finished 16 Sep
16) Far away across the sea by Toon Tellegen
17) Kamo's escape by Danial Pennac - finished 17 Sep
18) The Robber Hotzenplotz by Otfried Preußler - finished 06 Oct
19) Ghost Knight by Cornelia Funke - finished 10 Oct
20) The Flint Heart by Katherine Paterson - finished 12 Oct
21) The glassblower's children by Maria Gripe - finished 26 Nov
22) Operation Bunny by Sally Gardner - finished 28 Nov
23) Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin - finished 04 Dec
24) Safekeeping by Karen Hesse - finished 13 Dec

Possibles:
Votan by John James - because I just managed to score a copy of this after a couple of years hunting.

13) Baker's Dozen Bonus:
A place to record picturebooks & graphic novels.

graphic novels:
The Speed Abater by Christophe Blain (1999) - finished Jan06
The Push Man & other stories by Yoshiro Tatsumi (1969/2005) - finished Jan 15
Good-bye by Yoshiro Tatsumi (1975/2008) - finished Jan 16
Klezmer: Tales of the Wild East by Joann Sfar - finished Feb 01
Level Up by Gene Luen Yang - finished Feb 06
Nelson edited by Rob Davis - finished Mar 03
Same difference by Derek Kirk Kim - finished Mar 03
Aya by Marguerite Abouet
A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi - finished 14 Mar
Aya of Yop City by Marguerite Abouet - finished 14 Mar
Aya: the secrets come out by Marguerite Abouet - finished 14 Mar
Market Day by James Sturm - finished 16 Sep
Not the Israel my parents promised me by Harvey Pekar - finished 17 Sep
Jerusalem: chronicles from the Holy City by Guy Delisle - finished 18 Sep
Glacial Period by Nicolas de Crécy - finished Oct
On the odd hours by Eric Liberge - finished 15 Nov
The Museum Vaults: Excerpts from the Journal of an Expert by Marc-Antoine Mathieu
Rohan at the Louvre by Hirohiko Araki
The sky over the Louvre by Yslaire

picturebooks:
The Sigh by Marjane Satrapi - finished Feb 06
The Conductor by Laetitia Devernay - finished Feb 04
A ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka - finished Feb 02
No dogs allowed by Linda Ashman - finished Feb 02
Running with the Horses by Alison Lester - finished Mar05
Fearless by Colin Thompson - finished 24 Apr
Fearless in love by Colin Thompson - finished 24 Apr
I can't wait by Davide Cali - June
What is this thing called love by Davide Cali - June
Piano piano by Davide Cali - June
The cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse
Poonam's Pets by Andrew Davies
The enemy: a Peace book by Davide Cali
Anna Hibiscus' song by Atinuke and Lauren Tobia
Azzi In Between by Sarah Garland
Charley's First Night by Amy Hest
The Tobermory Cat by Deb Gliori
Ladder to the Moon by Maya Soetoro-Ng
Trouble Gum by Matthew Cordell
Another Brother by Matthew Cordell
Life doesn't frighten Me by Maya Angelou

etc etc

The Same Sea by Amos Oz (1999)
fiction, Israel

Quite a lyrical read and structured more as a series of prose poems than an actual narrative. The book is about the inner lives of a variety of linked characters who come together in different ways over the months following the death of the main character's wife. Oz is concerned mostly with relationships, attraction and intimacy between people. Albert has just lost his wife, his son Rico, his mother. Rico abandons his girlfriend, Dita, and takes off to travel in Asia seeming to unravel more and more. As these three go about their lives, their interactions with others and each other, their relationships seem poised to take new directions. Oz considers the inner impulsions and the mostly lack of commitment to move on, father and son both seem to hold back from the next phase of their lives.
I enjoyed the style of the book, the language was at times quite beautiful but not much happens, nothing seems to resolve. There were diversions such as the late mother reminiscing along with Albert on their courtship and the author himself intruding into the mix, more of a slow contemplative read rather than a riveting one.

A few picturebooks:


Poonam's Pets by Andrew Davies (1990)
picturebook

I tracked this down on Bookmooch and it took so long that I no longer remember why, but very glad to have the chance to read it. Very delightful simple story with lovely rich watercolour illustration. Andrew Davies is more known for his extensive work as a screenwriter and also for his children's ficton such as the great read aloud, Alfonso Bonzo, and Conrad's War which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979.
Anyway Poonam is a very shy quiet little girl and when the teacher is organising a class pet day she whispers that she's going to bring her pet lions....she does and they are big and bold.

Poonam whispers in her teacher's ear...


The Enemy: a book about peace by Davide Cali, ill Serge Bloch (2009)
picturebook

I read a lot of Davide Cali's work a couple of months back but missed this one. Two soldiers on opposing sides, stuck in their manholes, each one wondering about their enemy. They've been there so long they don't even know if the war is still going on but they know their enemy is a monster, they were told all about them when the war began.



Anna Hibiscus' Song by Atinuke and Lauren Tobia (2011)
picturebook

This is just a joyous celebration of happiness. Little Anna Hibiscus feels so happy and she wanders from family member to family member to find out what they do when they are happy. I must track down the others in the series.
For those still unfamiliar with this charming series, the books are from the point of view of a young biracial child, Anna Hibiscus who lives in “… Africa. Amazing Africa.” In each of these ... professional storyteller Atinuke gently, authentically, and lyrically strings together a series of episodes that present life for one extended Nigerian family. from Monica Endinger's blog post
The illustrations are bold and colourful, just like Anna Hibiscus. Note that the other Anna Hibiscus books are early chapter books not a picturebook like this one.


“Uncle Tunde and Anna Hibiscus dance and dance around the car. And oh! Oh! Oh! Anna Hibiscus’ happiness grows and grows!” more illustrations and other great books on this blog, seven impossible things before breakfast .


Azzi In Between by Sarah Garland (2012)
junior graphic novel

I haven't seen anything by Sarah Garland for ages so jumped at this latest offering. It's the story of Azzi, forced by circumstances of war to leave her country and become a refugee in a new land. Wonderful storytelling and accompanied by Garland's great illustration style.

Earwig and the witch by Diana Wynne Jones (2011)
children's fiction

A great little witch story for younger readers. I was especially taken with the Mandrake who could summon meals from anywhere. Orphan Earwig is adopted by a witch, Bella Yaga and the Mandrake, but all they really want is someone to do most of the work.

Far away across the sea by Toon Tellegen, illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg (2012)
children's fiction

I read Tellegen's Letters to Anyone and Everyone last year and loved the quirkyness of the very short stories and the delightful illustrations by Ahlberg that accompany. This lovely edition is the latest to be translated by Boxer Books. Where else do you have letters delivered by the wind, get invited to a party by a mussel or find a mammoth in the woods. I believe that Tellegen is very popular in his native Holland with over 500 of these animal stories published. These would make delightful gifts to the right child.

Market Day by James Sturm (2010)
graphic novel

This sounded quite promising but turned out to be a fairly depressing read for me so I'm glad it's over and the book can go back to the library. Mendleman is off to the nearby town for market day, his wife is about to give birth to their first child and he has woven some beautiful carpets to sell. When he arrives at the market he finds that his regular buyer has retired and the new business owner is not interested in paying more for quality. His day goes downhill from here...

eta: mikewick's LT review explains the premise behind the book, but doesn't change it from being a depressing read. ...describes the tension between art & commerce, between making art and making a living...


Not the Israel my parents promised me by Harvey Pekar & illus. by J T Waldman (2012)
graphic memoir

Another graphic novel, this one is set over the span of a day that illustrator Waldman spends with Pekar as Pekar discusses his childhood growing up with Zionist parents in Cleveland and his growing disillusionment with Israeli politics over the years. Interspersed is the history of the Jewish nation from biblical times. Pekar is very critical of Israel and this GN is an expression of his views. Waldman does some wonderful illustration work here but overall it is just Pekar explaining his outlook on the Jewish state.
I haven't read any of Pekar's other work though I'm aware of American Splendour. I have Waldman's GN, Megillat Esther, and looking at his work in this has me interested in reading it sooner. I've also made a good start on another GN, Guy Delisle's Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City which is a little more interesting.

Kamo's escape by Daniel Pennac (1997)
children's fiction, france

This was a delightful story with a poignant twist at the end. I really enjoy Pennac's books, he writes for both children and adults and is perhaps best known for his The Rights of the Reader. I'm still waiting for my daughter to send on The Scapegoat so I can continue with his Benjamin Malaussène series.
Kamo refuses to ride the old bicycle when on holiday....he can sense a deep sadness. Later, back in Paris he is knocked off the bike by a speeding black car and while he lies unconscious in hospital, his friends try desperately to help him before his mother returns from her family research trip to Russia.

147) Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton (2004)
scifi, iPod audio
Chunkster category

I've read quite a few Hamilton books and always enjoy the world building. This is no exception and ends on such a cliffhanger that I just have to pick up the sequel. It's 2389 and through the discovery of wormhole travel and re-lifing, humans have managed to move off Earth, colonise a large commonwealth of planets and live long multi-generational lives. But the Commonwealth is now threatened by a hostile alien force and there seems to be a deeply buried secret about how those wormholes were first discovered that will radically change the truth about everything.
John Lee remains a favourite narrator of scifi books.

Your challenge is going full steam ahead - great job!

For Market Day, I apparently went with (I had to look it up) "The style is a little bit dreary for my personal taste, but I was impressed by Sturm's ability to so acutely convey the human and socio-economic aspects in such a short format." I gave it a 3/5, pointwise. :)

I'll put Pekar's book on the library-list, I think. I too want to take a look at Megillat Esther, but it hasn't materialized yet.

Hi Eva - I seem to be avoiding 2 of my categories, the chunkster one, (though I've put several books in other categories that could have fit here) and my 'religion in fiction' one. I'm doing well in the others because I read a lot of YA/children's books.

I just wasn't in the mood for Market Day, I think I was disappointed that the birth of his first child couldn't overide his disillusionment...but he couldn't get past the 'another mouth to feed'.
I wasn't in love with the Pekar and I'm finding the Delisle to be interesting reading. Delisile's partner worked for Medicins sans Frontieres and these organisations put their people up in East Jerusalem and encourage them to live among the Arab population rather than the Jewish. So it's got a different perspective coming through.

To be honest, I don't remember much of Market Day apart from it being a bit dreary....

No use in pushing a category you're not "feeling," I've noticed. I've done that in the past and I end up not liking the book because I made myself read it rather than there being much wrong with the book itself.

I've seen some of the illustrations from the Delisle book and on that basis put it on my wishlist - good to hear it's an interesting read as well. :) East Jerusalem has a very different feel to it (although I must admit I didn't venture far into it when I was there), so I'd be interested in seeing that different perspective.

Jerusalem: chronicles from the Holy City by Guy Delise (2012)
graphic memoir / Baker's Dozen category

Because his wife works for Médecins Sans FrontiéresCanadian cartoonist Delisle and their 2 young children accompany her when she is stationed for extended periods in politically unstable regions. They spent a year based in East Jerusalem while his wife travelled regularly to Gaza. During his time in Israel, Delisle wanders around the country and the old city recording his impressions in this memoir. I found this quite an interesting read, he focused his time on meeting and talking to Palestinians, Israeli Arabs, others working for aid organisations or NGOs and seemed to be less interested in meeting ordinary Israeli Jews. He was more inclined to introduce the reader to the religious jews of the Mea Shearim quarter or the activist settlers, so a lot of the comparisons seemed a bit contrived, though I think living in Jerusalem is very different from the other areas of Israel.

Quite a bit different, agreed, but he must have been making a point - Mea Shearim is hardly indicative of all of Jerusalem. :) Thanks - pushing it higher up the wishlist!

Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms:: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange Adventure by Lissa Evans (2011)
children's fiction / The lists

Published originally in the UK as Small change for Stuart (with the same cover art) and shortlisted for the 2011 Costa Award for Children's fiction, the 2012 Carnegie Medal in Literature, and the 2012 Branford Boase Award.
I have to say it was the retro cover art that attracted me to the book when at the library. This was a good old fashioned children's adventure mystery with lots of clues to be solved. When Stuart and his parents move back to the small town where his father grew up, Stuart uncovers a mysterious clue about his long lost great uncle's magic workshop. Stuart must track down and solve the clues quickly as there is a demolition contract on the house his great uncle lived in. At first he's hindered by the annoying triplets who live next door, April, May and June, but eventually April proves to be made of more stellar stuff than her sisters.
This was a fairly irresistible little read and budding magicians will love it. The sequel came out earlier this year and looks to be equally fun.

Lissa Evans is more known in the UK television world as a producer/director of Father Ted, Crossing the Floor and The Kumars at No. 42. Evans has also been longlisted for the Orange Prize in 2009 for her adult book Their Finest Hour And A Half.

Eva - What I wasn't aware of is that all these aid / NGO organisations base their personnel in East Jerusalem and encourage them to only shop and mix with the Arab people. Delisle is alongside a Jewish settlement and they are deterred from going to the supermarket and shops there. Eventually, while they stay 'true' to these principles, he is mildly surprised to see Arab women returning with their shopping from the cheaper Jewish shops. He's also surprised that Israeli Jews also frequent Arab businesses. I think it was this principle of avoiding Israeli society that rankled most for me, also that the organisations' consider Tel Aviv to be the capital of Israel. Apart from this, it's interesting as he experiences lots of checkpoints, becomes obsessed with drawing the separation wall and gets to unusual corners of Israel, seeing little compelling details with his artist's eye.

> 27

That sounds like a fun book, and I especially love the detail about the annoying triplets named April, May, and June. My adopted mother is named April Flowers, and she has two sisters named May and Holly (born December, of course). So there really are people out there weird enough to name their kids like that.

Oh, I had no idea they did that either! There were quite a few Arab women shopping at "my" local grocery-store (the area I was staying in was "mixed" rather than just Jewish), so I just never noticed the huge divide (that must exist in East Jerusalem). The idea to deliberately get a one-sided view is one that will rattle me too when I read it, I know!

Father Ted and The Kumars at No. 42, you say?!? On the wishlist NOW!

Hi Jonathan - yes, it was fun. I liked that only one of the triplets worked out as the friend, she also didn't have a lot of time for her sisters. Some families do seem to go with a theme for their names, I worked with one that named their two boys after the Matrix movie characters, Morpheus and Neo, and I was looking forward to them calling their new born daughter, Trinity. But they named her Morticia instead.

I have a friend named Rhiannon after the Fleetwood Mac song.

150) Lion's Honey by David Grossman (2005)
Canongate myth series

A shared read with lilbrattyteen (Jonathan) in the 75ers group. This has sat on my tbr pile for a few years and so was good to dust it off and read. It wasn't what I expected which would have been a retelling of the biblical story of Sansom. In fact it was better, Grossman explores the story inside out and discusses in detail the psychology and motivations behind Sansom. I really liked this and am even more impressed with Grossman's versatility as a writer and must move some more of his writing further up my tbr pile. So far I've read The Zigzag Kid, See Under: Love and To the End of the Land. I also started his nonfiction The Yellow Wind a few years ago but found it a little dated.
I'm impressed that so far this month I've read 3 Canongate Myth books, a series that I've been meaning to start for so long.

And Jonathan's review of Lion's Honey and his thread in general over in Club Read makes fascinating reading. Reading this book has introduced me to yet another intriguing LTer.

> 33

Thank you Kerry! The feeling is mutual. I love the networking aspect of LT.

Are you taking the Coursera Greek mythology class? Since you're into myths and all.

Kittyhawk Down by Garry Disher (2003)
fiction / Australia

This is the second in the Hal Challis crime series which is set in a rural area just south of Melbourne. Homicide Inspector Challis and the other staff at Waverley Police station all have their personal problems and weaknesses which play out alongside the local drug and murder investigations. I'm enjoying the characters in these books and will keep reading the series. I'll probably switch to one from his Wyatt series next though, I'm curious.

Hero on a bicycle by Shirley Hughes (2012)
children's fiction / Dropbox

Shirley Hughes is well known for her picturebooks and illustration work and at a grand age of 85 years has written her first children's novel. She went to Florence when she was 19 at the end of WW2 and this book is based on one of the stories she heard about a local family.
The Allied front is advancing but the Nazis still occupy Florence and the surrounding countryside. Paolo, his older sister and English-born mother are living just outside Florence, their father is in hiding with the Partisans. Paolo has a chance to prove his bravery when they are asked to look after two soldiers who have escaped from a POW camp. The story involves all three members of the family and I liked how Hughes managed to introduce to the younger reader some of the complexities of the Italian politics of the time without being overwhelming. Overall a great old-fashioned adventure story.

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman (2010)
Canongate Myth series / God is Back category

I've been wanting to read this for a while as I enjoy Pullman's work and it sounded intriguing with his idea of splitting the Jesus story between twin brothers. So it wasn't a brilliant read, I had to put aside My name was Judas which was covering similar territory and getting me confused between the two stories. in Pullman's version, Christ both chronicles Jesus' journey and also acts the part of Judas and to be honest I just didn't care to think any deeper into what he was trying to do with the story.
I'm keen to get back to the CK Stead book which is a far more entertaining retelling, one in which Judas, living under an alias, finally tells his side of the story 40 years after his betrayal of Jesus. And yesterday I picked up Naomi Alderman's latest book, The Liars' Gospel which is yet another retelling of the time of Jesus from four points of view - his mother, a friend, a rebel and High Priest Caiaphas.

Airman by Eoin Colfer (2008)
children's fiction / iPod audio
The Lists category

Carnegie Shortlist 2009. One of the delights of listening to a book by an Irish writer is that the narrator will have an enchanting Irish lilt, and I have to say that was a big drawcard for this one. I've had the book Airman sitting on Mt tbr for a long while but downloaded the audio when I saw it in my library's digital collection. This is a great steampunkish adventure story set around the invention of flying machines and a fictional kingdom on The Saltee Islands just off the coast of Ireland. Loved it loved it....so many great and despicable characters. I saw it described in one review as swashbuckling - yes, indeed. Think Count of Monte Cristo crossed with maybe Biggles or Those Magnificent Men in their Flying machines.

From wikipedia: Colfer was inspired to write the book after a frightening skydiving experience. He combined this with his childhood observation that the Saltee Islands would make an excellent prison

A Wanted Man by Lee Child (2012)
Jack Reacher #17 / Neverending series category

I put my name down for this one at an opportune time as there are now over 900 requests for it at my library. Another instalment in the Reacher canon, I'll keep reading them but I'm not as much a fan as I once was.

Kerry, it sounds like the Pullman book just didn't get your goat too much. Is it worth reading? Did it feel thought-provoking?

Airman sounds like fun. I'm always up for a swashbuckle!

Jonathan - I've had to read a couple of reviews in the Guardian to come to terms with the book and so have ended up appreciating it a little more.
here are a couple of quotes -
Rowan Williams - It is a fable through which Philip Pullman reflects on Jesus, on the tensions and contradictions of organised religion (review here)
Richard Holloway - There is no doubt that Pullman has an honest contempt for the institution that hijacked the poor man of Nazareth for its purposes of spiritual and material domination, but he is too honest to ignore one of the supreme ironies of history. Almost his last words are these: "But this is the tragedy: without the story, there will be no church, and without the church, Jesus will be forgotten." (review here)

There's an extract from the book here

I've mentioned a couple of books/writers on some other threads that I wondered if you had already read:
The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar - graphic novel
Marek Halter
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Christina - can't believe how long I took to get to this one. Definitely fun.

I've looked at the Pullman book too, but took it off the list after reading a bunch of reviews and realizing that it wasn't what I would want it to be. the My Name Was Judas sounds interesting, though!

I checked and we get a generic American reader over here for Airman, so I'll skip that one. :( I need to go berserk next time I'm in Sweden and am allowed to download from Audible UK!! :)

I've read my name was Judas In my 11/11 my review is in that thread, can't say it stuck in my mind though....

Well, I'm not a believer, but I did go to Sunday School enough to know my Bibblie... It's on the wishlist now. Thanks Pete!

Dark Calling by Darren Shan (2009)
YA horror / Neverending series

This is book #9 of 10 in the Demonata series. I'm only reading this and the final book, Hell's Heroes, in order to finally complete the series. This series is not my usual 'cup of tea', but I wanted to see where the storyline ended up. Lots of blood n' guts and demon fighting which will appeal to budding horror lovers.

Eva - The Pullman was a quick read and I did want to know for myself how it was. I'm not religious either but am interested in religion and thought it would be interesting to read some biblical retellings, hence my 'God is Back' category, but I haven't read any all year and now have to read a few 'back to back' which is not ideal.
Btw, have you come across The People of Forever Are Not Afraid?

psutto - I read your comments on the book, and hope to get back to My Name is Judas this weekend. Stead is highly revered here but I haven't read anything by him yet. I've tried and failed to read his poetry. His daughter, Charlotte Grimshaw, is also an award winning writer.

Books with big topics like that are probably not great to read one after another! :) I saw something about her on NPR, but didn't pay 100% attention - I think she went to school with Gilad Shalit(?). Looks like my library has it on order - getting in line.

The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones (2004)
YA fiction / Favourite Writers category

This is the sequel to Deep Secret, but I think it can be taken as a standalone read set in the same Magid world. I've had this since it was first published and had tried and failed to read it once before. It does take time to gel as there are two storylines that need to get underway, but once it gets going this is a wonderfully imaginative read. Now I really should get on and read Deep Secret. I've read heaps of DWJ's books and it amazes me when I realise how many I still have to read.

Roddy lives in a parallel world full of magic and is part of the Royal Procession that constantly moves around Blest (Britain), but something is wrong with the new Merlin. Nick knows there are alternate worlds, he was born on one of them but he just doesn't know the trick of moving between them.

Currently working on my 2013 category challenge - so much to read, so many possible categories....

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson (1978)
children's fiction / Mt Tbr category

Read for the 75ers October TIOLI Banned Books challenge. I had come across this the other day when rearranging a book shelf so when I saw it on the Banned Books list thought it could finally come off my tbr pile. I intend to read all of Katherine Paterson's books at some stage but at present settle for a couple now and then. This is about a difficult foster child, Gilly, who has been unloved and moved on all her young life and so has plenty of tricks and barriers to play when she arrives at her latest place. It's in this unconventional family that Gilly finally finds what she has been seeking....but her schemes to reunite with her real mother might prove to be her downfall.
Lovely little story that's possibly been banned due to Gilly's racist attitude at the start of the book. This is dealt with within the context of the story.


The cleansing of Mahommed by Chris McCourt (2012)
fiction / Australia

This debut was a wonderful read that I simply flew through. It's based on a true episode in Australian history, 'The Battle of Broken Hill' which ....may be the least-known action in Australian history. On New Year's Day 1915, two Afghan cameleers armed themselves with a couple of outmoded rifles, hoisted the Turkish flag on an ice-cream cart, and opened fire on a picnic train near Broken Hill.

The story plays out between a young Afghani, Gool Mahommed, and an Australian girl, Alice. He's returning to Broken Hill after 5 years away in his home country and servce in the Turkish Army. He's come back to seek his fortune in the mines, vowing not to work again with his fellow Afghanis and their camel trains. Alice and Gool meet briefly on the train from Adelaide back to Broken Hill, a great first chapter. Local attitudes do not go well for young Gool and the other foreigners, coming up against indifference, racism and religious intolerance and with the Great War breaking out, they are now also considered a possible enemy. The burgeoning romance barely takes off before tragedy must strike. The 'cleansing' is a theme carried through the book to an especially poignant last scene.
McCourt is an accomplished scriptwriter and has written for sterling Australian tv series such as 'McCleod's Daughters' & 'Packed to the Rafters'. Here, she tells a very fine well-paced yarn.

It's still a goal of mine to read that whole "banned" list - I'm about 2/3 through. I'll do a category for the 14-in-14 challenge!! :)

No luck with The cleansing of Mahommed in the US yet. Adding McLeod's Daughters to my Netflix list instead. :)

Eva - No logic to some of the books that get banned - One of my favourite picturebooks ever, Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? - This beloved children's book was banned in January 2010 by the Texas Board of Education because the author has the same name as an obscure Marxist theorist, and no one bothered to check if they were actually the same person.
Is there an official list somewhere, the challenge linked to a list from 2009. I've read a lot on the list.

The cleansing of Mahommed is newly published and I came across a great review for it in my Sunday paper. It was really easy to read and it fits my Australia category which is somewhat languishing and not being filled with the books I originally anticipated reading at the beginning of the year - Patrick White, Miles Franklin, Gail Jones, Tim Winton etc etc.
I enjoyed the first season of McCleod's Daughters.

I read in an article today that Nick Harkaway is the son of John Le Carre which makes me even more determined to pick up his The Gone Away World before the end of the year.

Hell's Heroes by Darren Shan (2009)
YA horror / Neverending series

This is #10 and the final book in the Demonata series. I read this series more to know the content as it is really popular with teens, especially those who otherwise aren't keen readers. I was wondering how the final showdown was going to work and now I know. From book one we've followed newly orphaned Grubbs Grady and his adventures with the Disciples, fighting the chess loving demon, Lord Loss and his followers across various worlds including Earth.
Read for 75ers' October Halloween theme read.

Those three on the cover are the good guys!

The ALA (American Library Association) has a few different lists (most challenged book, most challenged author, challenged books by decade, challenged books by year, etc.) that can be found over here.

Did not know that Harkaway was le Carré's son - very interesting. I have Angelmaker on the wishlist since Claire read it.

The article was mainly about Rowling's new book and whether she should have published under a pseudonym and without the hype (or sales!). They mentioned in passing that Harkaway and Joe Hill were both sons of famous writers but publish under another name.

I probably won't read Rowland's new book (not my cup of tea nor I am a Potter fan) but the bizarre reactions have been quiet entertaining.

There is an interesting interview with Nick Harkaway on why he chose a pseudonym.. basically because his real name Cornwell (as John le Carre is a fake name as well) and that was too much like Patricia/Bernard Cornwell! Anyway link here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3555284/Nick-Harkaway-Le-Carre-with-nin...
and I loved this quote:
There is not now, nor I suspect will there ever be, a le Carré novel with ninjas in it. Most serious novelists are wary of including ninjas in their writing. That's a shame, because many much-admired works of modern fiction could benefit from a few.

->50 avatiakh:
I think she probably should have published under at least a variation of her name, just to avoid the this-isn't-HP-complaints. I'm half-way through and it's not bad, but it is very stinken far from Hogwarths. :)

->51 clfisha:
That's a great quote! I like how his real last name makes for just as much confusion:
There only remained the question of a name to call my own. The one I was born with - Cornwell - has some baggage of its own:
"No relation of the author, I suppose?"
"Yes, my father."
Although sometimes that can take you to some rather unexpected places…
"I had no idea Patricia Cornwell was a man! How extraordinary!

Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones (2010)
children's fiction / Favourite Writer category

Another immersion into the wonderful magical world of DWJ. I had intended to carry on with my rereads of Harry Potter, I'm up to book 4, but finding myself enjoying DWJ too much to bother at present.
I've got House of Many Ways and Deep Secret lined up to read as well this month.

Eva - I'm on the library queue (#234) for the Rowling book so it will be a while till I read it.

Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes (1605)
fiction / Big Boys category

This was my 12in12 year long group read which I started back in February. I ended up listening to an audiobook, Robert Whitfield narrating Tobias Smollett's 1761 translation and only read one section of the Edith Grossman translation.
I really enjoyed Book one which contains the most well known of the adventures of Quixote and Pancho. The second part which was originally published a decade after the first books just felt a little contrived and I struggled with it to be honest.
I'm really happy to be have finally read this and will be spending the evening watching Peter O'Toole & Sophia Loren in 'The Man from La Mancha'.

eta: why does touchstone first go to abridged version???

I'd recommend "Lost in La Mancha" by Terry Gilliam a film about how he failed to make a film about Don Quixote :-)

Seconding the recommendation of Lost in La Mancha!

Congrats on completing Don Quixote! I figure I have almost three month to get my act together and finish it. So far I agree with you.... the first book contained better stories, IMO.

Didn't get to watch the dvd, will do over the weekend and have requested Lost in La Mancha from the library (no Netflix here).

Lori - I'd still be stuck in the first half of the book if I didn't keep on with the audio version.

The Radleys by Matt Haig (2010)
fiction / Crowded Nest category

An October Halloween Read over in the 75ers group. I'm addicted to this writer's dark comedic style of writing and this was another satisfying read. The Radleys are a middleclass, muted sort of family, one that doesn't stand out, they've blended into a small town community but....they are different, they're abstaining vampires. The problem is, is that the parents have never told their two teenaged children and unfortunately that was a very bad move.
I must move his The Possession of Mr. Cave up my tbr list.

@ 59 -- Every time I see The Radleys I think of To Kill a Mockingbird. Is there any connection, or is it just a coincidental use of the same name?

Christina - I did a bit of sleuthing and found this informative PW interview:

Matt Haig's The Radleys depicts a British family of "abstaining" vampires thrown into crisis after the teenage daughter discovers her "overwhelming blood thirst."

Were you influenced by Boo Radley of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

Yes, Boo, pale-faced, misunderstood suburban outsider, was definitely my inspiration, though I later discovered Radley means "of the red meadow," which can have vampire connotations.

I have The Radleys sitting on my TBR bookcase, an impulse buy during my book sale binge shopping. Now I really want to move that up.... maybe this month for Halloween. Since I can't thumb your review on the book page, here you go.....
Thumb!
THUMB!!
THUMB!!!

Lori - I rarely post reviews. The Radleys has also sat on my Mt tbr since soon after it came out, I've enjoyed his other books but I just could never make time for it till now, I felt Halloween was an appropriate time to read it.

The Radleys does sound fun.

Kerry - congrats on finishing Don Quixote! It looks like a monster!

I didn't make the connection with Mockingbird at all - that is a very interesting spin!

I'll THUMB over here as well then! :)

Ragnarok: the end of the Gods by A.S. Byatt (2011)
Canongate myth series / God is Back category

I had to read this rather slowly as I wasn't appreciating the eloquent language and almost gave up in what felt like an endless section on Jörmungandr, the sea serpent that encircles the world. Byatt encases this telling of the Viking gods inside a young English girl's reading of a German edition of Norse mythology during World War 2, this girl is in actuality Byatt, herself.
I found it rich in imagery and luscious prose but overall I think I prefer a more direct sort of telling. I loved Kevin Crossley-Holland's Book of Norse Myths and would recommend that over the Byatt. I've enjoyed couple of Byatt's other books so will keep reading her work.
Here's Ursula Le Guin's take on Byatt's book:

Ragnarök, A S Byatt's contribution to the Canongate Myths series, is a brilliant, highly intelligent, fiercely personal rendition of the Scandinavian mythology. Its personal element has particular resonance for me because, like A S Byatt, I was a child during the Second World War. I, too, read the Norse myths, and like her I found they made sense of the strange world we were growing up in. But California was a long way from the north of England, and the versions of the story I knew were very different from hers. She read the translation of Wägner's scholarly edition; I read Padraic Colum's, written principally for younger readers. Colum gave the often incoherent material narrative shape, humanised its brutality to some extent, brought out its harsh humour, and told it in fine, clear prose. Byatt was dealing with something nearer the raw material. But we were both reading a story that moved inexorably through war towards doom.

And a quote from the book:

The thin child walked through the fair field in all weathers, her satchel of books and pens, with the gas-mask hanging from it, like Christian's burden when he walked in the fields, reading in his Book. She thought long and hard, as she walked, about the meaning of belief. She did not believe the stories in Asgard and the Gods. But they were coiled like smoke in her skull, humming like dark bees in a hive. She read the Greek stories at school, and said to herself that there had once been people who brought 'belief' to these capricious and quarrelsome gods and goddesses, but she herself read them as she read fairy stories, Puss in Boots, Baba Yaga, brownies, pucks, and fairies, foolish and dangerous, nymphs, dryads, hyrdra and the white winged horse, Pegasus, all these offered the pleasure to the mind that the unreal offers when it is briefly more real than the visible world can ever be. But they didn't live in her, and she didn't live in them.

The mythological imagination always fascinates me. That looks like a good read, Kerry. Finishing that whole series is on my bucket list. :)

What a lovely quote from the book. Great review too, although not sure the book is for it definitely intriguing.

It just has to be on my list because of the topic, doesn't it? :) I may go for the audio version, though, as I've noticed I do better with Byatt's poetic language when it's read to me than I read it myself.

It took me a while to read Byatt's book but in the end I had a positive opinion about it.

The Robber Hotzenplotz by Otfried Preußler (1962)
children's fiction / Dropbox

Firstly I want to announce that Mr Preußler will be 99 on Oct 20, I know because I was going to add one of his books to a Dead Author challenge and then found that I couldn't! This classic German children's book is included in the 1001 children's books you must read before you grow up and I came across mention of it on 75er Nathalie's thread when she was looking for sentimental childhood favourites to read. When wicked Robber Hotzenplotz robs Grandmother of her new musical coffee mill, Kasperl and Seppel decide they'll catch him. But the robber captures them and trades one boy into service with a nearby evil magician. What a fun and comical story, accompanied by great illustrations by Franz-Josef Tripp, though in my edition they were in b&w.

What are you thinking of the selection in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up? Is it internationally balanced, doyou think? I wanted to get it, but if it's very one-sided, I think I'll pass.

I think it's fairly well balanced, though sometimes books that I would consider to be adult ones have been included, Tove Jansson's The Summer Book, The Arabian Nights, A Christmas Carol, Robinson Crusoe, The Three Musketeers (books that keen readers would want to try). Some complaints have been that some books are only available in original language and not in English. I think that this is a positive, maybe some of these books will eventually become available in English.
They contacted children's literature experts in the various countries to help with the selection. The group I'm involved with here in New Zealand changed the NZ selection quite significantly to better reflect our literature. I sourced the book cover images for our selection.
My suggestion would be to get it from the library and have a good look. I've found some interesting reading using the book

Thanks!! The "adult" version of 1001 had some odd choices as well and it seemed to be mainly down to Boxall's personal preference - I like it if they've asked international experts for advice on the respective countries. I was after finding some hidden treasures (in a language I can read...) so that sounds like a fit. I'll get in line for a library copy!

Like any selection process there are going to be books you love that haven't been included...and this is probably more colourful than the adult version.

That's true - I'm sure there will be a few of the Nordic ones I'll wonder why they picked one over another. 1001 sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. :)

New Zealand was allowed 17 books and I think Australia was given about 40 entries. There are 5 sections divided by age groups: 0-3, 3+, 5+, 8+, 12+.

Oh, they do an age-split. Is there a country or continent-split as well, or did you just happen to count?

There's an index by author and title at the back but no country one. I knew about the Australian and NZ numbers because they were discussed within the organisation I worked for at the time.

Gotcha! Hmm, I'm intrigued to see the choices now - I might just have to go ahead and order that one. Thanks!!

Yipee!!! I didn't know there was a 1001 for kids. & here's hoping your author thwarts you in 2013 so you'll have to start a centigenarian year old author challenge instead of a dead author challenge.

Killer App & Other Paranormal Stories (2012)
YA anthology / short n' sweet category

I was interested to read this anthology as it was published by Penguin India and the stories while standard scary are also a little exotic. New Zealander David Hair has a story included as he was living in India around the time he contributed, and I have to say that his Bloodied Hands was one of the better ones, making use of Indian mythology as did Janine Perrett's Rashiraya Palace. Not all the stories were that great but I enjoyed reading one or two each time I picked up the book. Most other contributors were from India.

Exotic and scary sound like a good combination!

Little White Duck: a childhood in China by Na Liu, illustrated by Andres Vera Martinez (2012)
junior graphic memoir / Baker's Dozen category

Reflecting the changing face & modernising of China, Na Liu tells 8 short stories from her 1970s childhood, and these have been illustrated by her husband, Martinez. This would be a powerful read for the age group it's aimed at especially the story where she visits her father's rural village and her less well-off cousins are mesmerised by the little fluffy duck applique on her coat. Here's the link to an excellent and expansive review from NYPL librarian Betsy Bird.
Na Liu is a doctor of hematology and oncology. She moved from Wuhan, China, to Austin, Texas, in 1998 to work as a research scientist.




This moose belongs to me by Oliver Jeffers (2012)
picture book

Another wonderful picturebook from Jeffers, a young boy has a pet moose, or thinks he does....I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking.




The Amber Amulet by Craig Silvey (2012)
novella / Short n' Sweet category

I really love Silvey's work and this novella is a delight. The cover looks like a tatty pulp fiction paperback but inside is a keen story about a boy who patrols his neighbourhood as the Masked Avenger each evening and not to forget his sidekick, Richie the Power Beagle. Silvey writes a truly sympathetic story that works on the heart. The story was included in an Australian anthology, 10 Short Stories You Must Read In 2010, a couple of years ago and has also been turned into a theatre production.
Comes with great retro-style illustrations.



Meet the author


Recipe for Murder: Frightfully Good Food Inspired by Fiction by Esterelle Payant (2010)
nonfiction
I had more of a browse through than a thorough read. This gives you a background on some of the most villainous of villains in fiction, served up with an extract from the literary work and a suitable recipe. Snow White's stepmother gives us 'bewitching caramel apples', the big bad wolf serves up 'pigs in a blanket', Cathy Ames from East of Eden dishes up 'Cathy's Dead Bean Salad'. There's a lot of villains here and, for me, many European literary characters that are probably worth investigating - Pretaxtat Tach from Hygiene and the Assassin, Ennemonde etc. The artwork is cool too.


Patrick Bateman from American Psycho
Dracula
The Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland
The Ogre from Charles Perrault's fairytales

UBU from Ubu Rex

I love the look of The Amber Amulet by Craig Silvey, its a pity Amazon UK only do an audio version but luckily other internet providers have a copy :)

and that is a great idea for a recipe book, I don't usually buy non vegetarian ones but I am tempted :)

Amber amulet does look very interesting!

86,87: It's a great little read and just been published in Australia so will take time to trickle across the world. Silvey's other books are worth a look, I really liked Rhubarb.

I have a hard time resisting cookbooks, so Recipe for Murder is going on the wishlist - very nice art too!

Ghost Knight by Cornelia Funke (2011) (2012 English trans)
children's fiction / Drop Box
It's been a while since I read something by Funke, I still haven't got round to reading Reckless, but the plot of this one sounded interesting and I love that they kept the cover clear of any writing. The Ghost Knight is William Longspee, Earl of Salisbury, an illegitimate son of Henry II who died soon after serving in the Crusades of the early 13th Century. He is 'called to help' a boy who is newly arrived at a boarding school in Salisbury who has family ties to the past and is being haunted by ghosts after revenge.
It started a bit flat and the action was slow to get going, once it did it was quite scary. An average read rather than a great one.

Long ago in France: the years in Djon by M.F.K. Fisher (1991)
memoir / Fact not Fiction category
Newly wed Fisher and her husband Al, arrive in Djon in 1928. They stay for 3 years while Al studies for his doctorate in literature. Fisher wrote this many years later, so in many ways is quite nostalgic. She focuses more on people than the food. I liked it but didn't love it.

Ah, too bad about Ghost Knight. Funke can be fantastic and this one sounds like it had potential that it didn't live up too.

Werewolves of Montpellier by Jason (2010)
graphic novel, Norway - Baker's Dozen category
OK, this is a fairly slim little GN with an even slimmer storyline but I just loved the crisp clean artwork. A jewel thief dons a werewolf mask, clambers over rooftops and breaks into homes at night, hoping that the mask will cause anyone who discovers him to at first hesitate, giving him enough time to make a quick exit...eventually he's discovered by a coven of actual werewolves.
From his bio: The Norwegian cartoonist Jason combines a poker-faced minimalist anthropomorphic style with more than a passing nod to the "clear-line" ethos of Hergé.



Glacial Period by Nicolas de Crécy (2005)
graphic novel, France - Baker's Dozen category

This is part of a series of four graphic novels about the Louvre. This one is set in a post-apocolyptic future with an ice age having destroyed much of Europe. A group of explorer/archaeologists are sledding across this bleak white expanse of snow and ice with some genetically engineered dogs. They eventually discover the Louvre and as visual art plays no part in their society they assume that the art treasures are telling the story of the destruction of Europe, if only they can get them in the correct order. The story goes quite surreal but there are some great ideas in the story. A list of the Louvre treasures that de Crécy included in the story is at the back of the book. The art work has beautiful hues but the size of the book is a bit small to fully appreciate the art.
I'm interested to see more of his work and the other 3 books in this series.

House of Dolls by Francesca Lia Block, illustrated by Barbara McClintock (2010)
YA storybook / Short n' Sweet category
I just had to read this after glimpsing the beautiful cover online. The book itself is fairly petite and full of intricate b&w line drawings. The end papers are rather gorgeous as well. The story is quite delightful, the dolls are alive but not quite, they have been in the dolls house since the grandmother was a girl. The granddaughter is bored and lonely and resents the dolls' beautiful costumes, all made over the years by hand by the grandmother, while she is ignored by her parents.


The fantastic Drawings of Danielle by Barbara McClintock (1996)
picturebook - Baker's Dozen category
This was mentioned on Laini Taylor's blog, she's been enjoying this book with her young daughter who loves to do art just like her parents (Laini is an artist/writer & her husband is a graphic artist). The artwork is delightful and the story is quite lovely. Danielle accompanys her father most days onto the streets of Paris where he takes photographs. Danielle draws, but her drawings are never able to be as realistic as her father's photos. I'm keen to seek out more of McClintock's work.
Several illustrations from the book here


Mister Whistler by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Gavin Bishop (2012)
picturebook - Baker's Dozen category

One of the last books we'll see from the wonderful Mahy and a first collaboration with Gavin Bishop. Mr Whistler wakes up with a song in his head and when he buys a train ticket he can't remember where he put it. He has to check all his pockets inside and out, all the while dancing to the tune in his head which he needs to remember as well. Quite delightful, the ending slightly falls flat for me but only a smidgen.
More pics can be seen here

A hen in the wardrobe by Wendy Meddour (2012)
children's fiction / The Lists category

Ramzi's Dad is sleepwalking, he's looking for a hen in Ramzi's wardrobe. The doctor says he's homesick and so the family leave the UK to spend a summer in his father's village in Algeria. In the village Ramzi's father is able to get all the sleep he needs, but the noisy village life and early morning call to prayer keep Ramzi and his mother from sleeping in. This is a sweet, humorous story about having parents from two cultures. Meddour incorporates a lot of village life and Muslim customs seamlessly into the story.

Wendy's bio from her website: Wendy spent many years teaching English at Oxford University but has taken a break from academia in order to concentrate on her writing. With a farm in North Africa, a wobbly old house in Wiltshire, 4 young children and a Berber husband, there's always plenty to write about!
The book was shortlisted for the Muslim Writers’ Awards 2011, Winner of the Islamic Foundation’s International Writing Competition (and overall winner of the illustration category) and recipient of The John C Laurence Award 2010 (A national award given to a writer whose work is considered to improve relations between the races).

Surface Tension by Meg McKinlay (2011)
children's fiction, Australia

Cassie was born the day that her family's town, Old Lower Grange, was drowned by the new dam. It's still there submerged under the new lake and Cassie has always been fascinated by the idea of this hidden place of memories that she can't share. Swimming at the lake she and her friend Liam uncover a secret, something that someone had hoped to keep in the past.
I enjoyed this, McKinley covered quite political aspects of heritage as well. Cassie's sister works for the council and as the Old/New Lower Grange is about to celebrate a centenary since being founded she's putting together a commemorative book and the council leave out all mention of the protests about the drowning of the original town.


The Satanic Mill by Otfried Preußler (1971) translated by Anthea Bell
children's fiction, Germany - The Lists category

Deern first mentioned Otfried Preußler on her 75er thread and this was one of the few books available at my library and entirely suitable for a Halloween read. Set in 16th century Germany, 14 yr old orphan Krabat has been travelling the countryside begging for food. He's drawn to an old mill and finds work there as an apprentice. The miller already has 11 strong men working there, and over time Krabat finds he is in a school for Black Arts and that each year there must be a sacrifice from among the men for the mill to keep working. Deliciously creepy read that won a few awards back when it was first published including the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for Jugendbuch in1972.


The Flint Heart by Katherine & John Paterson (2012)
freely abridged from the original story by Eden Phillpotts (1910)
children's fiction / Drop Box category

The original story can be downloaded here. The Paterson's have revived the story for a new generation of children and the new storybook edition is full of lovely illustrations by John Rocco. They came across the story when talking to Margaret Mahy about out of print books and Margaret mentioned it as one of her favourite childhood books.
I ended up enjoying it quite a lot, though I always wondered at the back of my mind what changes had been made to the original story, so will be flicking through that original one at some stage.
The flint heart is made as a talisman for a powerhungry caveman back in the Stone Age, eventually after much misery the charm is cast out. A few thousand years later it is dug up by a kind farmer, who immediately turns cruel and ambitious. His children and their dog seek help from the Enchanted World to rid their father of the evil charm.

Book trailer here

Inside out and back again by Thanhha Lai (2011)
children's fiction / The Lists category
This won the National Book Award for Youth literature last year and was a Newbery Honour Book.
I love reading prose novels and this is a really good example of the genre. Lai writes a semi-autobiographical story of living in Saigon during the Vietnam War and then of her family's time as refugees and coming to live in Alabama where they must fit in. Recommended and I have to say I love that cover art.


All Fall Down: a story of survival by Sally Nicholls (2012)
YA fiction / Favourite writers category
Nicholls brings the 1349 Year of Black Death to vivid life through the eyes and heart of young 14 yr old Isobel, who lives in a small village about 2 days walk from York. Really good reading, and with my daughter suffering from a bad bout of flu as I was reading it, I did get quite fraught with anxiety for her health.
I've read and enjoyed all 3 of Nicholls' books.


Erebos by Ursula Poznanski (2010 German) (2012 English translation)
YA fiction / The Lists category
Ursula Poznanski is Austrian not German as I first assumed, but anyway this book is set in London. Ok, there's a couple of bits that probably didn't really get explained but who cares, this is a great YA thriller set partly in an online computer game and partly in the real world. DVD discs are being passed secretly around at school and Nick is really curious about it. He knows that it's a new computer game but no one will say anything, then at long last he's approached and finally can enter the game of Erebos. And he's hooked, the game is everything you could hope for...but how and why does the in-game messenger want to know about other students from school.
Once I started I couldn't put this down. German Youth Book Prize - Winner - Youth Jury, 2011.

My name was Judas by C.K. Stead (2006)
fiction, new zealand

This was my first book by C.K. Stead who is one of the New Zealand's grand old men of literature. He's known for his poetry and short stories. He's probably most famous here among the hoi polloi for writing Smith's Dream which was made into the 1977 movie Sleeping Dogs which kickstarted Sam Neill's acting career. His daughter Charlotte Grimshaw is also an award winning writer. His other daughter, Margaret Stead, is the editorial director at Atlantic Books in London.

I had marked out two of his books to read this year, the other is his biographical novel, Mansfield which still looks enticing. While I've found his poetry really difficult to delve into this novel was ideal reading material. He doesn't do dense, he does spare, a style I found totally appropriate for this retelling of the life of Jesus. Stead's main man is Judas, who has lived to an old age, those stories about him hanging from a fig tree are just that, stories that have been exaggerated just as much of what is claimed of Jesus is being embellished. We find Judas as an old man, living in Sidon as a Greek, a passing preacher from the Jesus sect, sets off his memories of his past life, one that he's shut away. We go right back to the childhood friendship between the privileged Judas and poor boy, Jesus. This story has been done very well, Stead/Judas give a more skeptical account of the miracles that Jesus is said to have performed, acts which make more realistic sense and that have quickly been exaggerated to miraculous feats by hearsay. At the heart is the relationship between the two men, a childhood friendship between Jesus, now seen as a Messiah, and Judas, always the questioning skeptic.
I still have two more novels to read about Jesus, but I really think I'm on 'religion' overload and will have to take a break, blame it on my having a 'religion in fiction' category.
The Book of Rachael by Leslie Cannold - Rachael, sister of Jesus, loves Judas - her story
The Liars' Gospel by Naomi Alderman - more political from Jewish/Roman viewpoints


A Russian Journal by John Steinbeck (1949) & photos by Robert Capa
memoir

Steinbeck and Capa want to know what is happening in Russia to the ordinary people. They're not interested in the news, or politics they just want to see how the farmers, the factory workers are getting on and how they are recovering from the war and destruction. Their application to visit Russia is approved and they travel there in 1948. What stands out in this account is that their visas are different from that of straight news journalists, they had much more freedom and were able to travel around the country, there were restrictions but news journalists at the time were treated with great suspicion and not allowed to travel outside of Moscow. They visit Moscow, Kiev, Stalingrad and Soviet Georgia in their six weeks there.
The camera and equipment caused untold problems at times, but no photographs had come out of Russia for years. I enjoyed reading about Steinbeck's relationship with Capa, they have to share a room everywhere and Capa sounds like a total eccentric, but truly professional in his craft. There's even a three page interlude in the journal where Capa defends himself against Steinbeck! But what they see and do is so interesting, and just the process of getting anywhere, Steinbeck writes about it all, openly and honestly. The book has Capa's photos throughout but the quality was not very good in the edition I was reading. I recommend Lisa's review over on the ANZ Lit Lovers Blog.

We found, as we had suspected, that the Russian people are people, and with other people, are very nice. The ones we met had a hatred of war, they wanted the same things all people want – good lives, increased comfort, security and peace.

Putting Werewolves of Montpellier on the wishlist - too bad it's so short, but the drawing-style looks great. Excellent to hear that Erebos was a page-turner - I've been eager to read it since I first heard about it.

Looks like you have had some very enjoyable reading. Very cool!

The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin (2011)
fiction / Neverending Series

This is the second Malcolm Fox book, so now I'm up to date and ready for Rankin's latest which will come out next month. Edinburgh-based DI Fox investigates other cops so he's not the most popular man on the force. Fox is sent to investigate a fairly straightforward case, but ends up uncovering a political mess involving Scottish separatist terrorists from the 1980s. Another page-turner, if Rankin writes it, I'll read it. I think that Fox is becoming a worthy successor to Rebus.

Telling Lies by Tricia Glensor (2012)
children's fiction / New Zealand

Inspired by her father's war diaries, Glensor has written a quite riveting novel about life in Occupied France and the French Resistance. 15 yr old Simone and her family do all they can to help Paul, a New Zealand airman, whose plane has been shot down near their farm. They must avoid detection, get him papers and a chance at crossing the border to Spain.

Lots of good stuff here since I last visited and making a note to get a russian journal

Thanks for your review of Telling Lies.

"if Rankin writes it, I'll read it."

You're not the only one! Standing in Another Man's Grave won't be out here in the US until January, but I'm thinking I'll order a UK copy to get it early. :) From what I understand Rebus and Fox will meet in that one - it'll be interesting to see how that goes...

Loved the quote from A Russian Journal. Didn't realize Steinbeck had ever been to Russia!

#91: cammy - Ghost Knight probably wasn't as bad as I make it sound, just didn't get off to a great start and having attended a boarding school myself and having read upteem dozen books about boarding school in the UK I dislike these ones that give boarders so much freedom of movement. I've been recommended to try Funke's When Santa Fell To Earth.

#102 & 105: Glad you're interested in A Russian Journal, have to ask to be excused for the rather garbled sentences I threw together for it, one of those early morning pre-coffee affairs. Do read Lisa's review, she sounds so sensible and eloquent.
#103: Victoria - I didn't think this would be available outside New Zealand, but a check at amazon shows it as a kindle book. My library has it as children's fiction, though I think it might be better suited to youngish YA. Not really one for an adult to read though.

#104: Can't wait! Rankin is visiting here in next month and I could go to hear him speak, but it's across the city and would involve motorway + rush hour which isn't a good mix here in Auckland ever. We have the same release date as the UK, though I'm relying on a library copy so might have to wait a little for that.
Yes, Erebos was enjoyable, definitely one for the YA market.
I liked the design and paper quality of the Werewolves of Montpellier book.

Several book bullets here. Glacial Period interests me because I've always been fascinated at how art/literature etc translates across cultures. The only SF book that I've read and comes to mind that does that is Eleanor Arnason's Ring of Swords. Hamlet of course. Hamlet seems to be the play that gets pulled out of it's own cultural context and messed with - all the time.

Erebos because it seems like SF that's time has come, now. Today a kid told me "everyone hates him on facebook" - five years ago it would've been "everyone in the school hates him."

& A Russian Journal because who could pass up Capa's photography, especially Capa's photography accompanied by Steinbeck's observations.

The edition of A Russian Journal I got from my library was really old and the photos small and very grainy, so I'd suggest reading it alongside his Robert Capa: the definitive collection. What I liked about ARJ having come to it from the book of photographs is Steinbeck's portrayal of Capa, he becomes a real person - eccentric and passionate about his cameras and negatives, also a pilferer of books.

I'll have to check out Ring of Swords. I haven't read much around Hamlet, but Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig is based on it.
I hate the cyber-bullying / texting thing, it does escalate.

The others in the Louvre Collection seem to be:
The Museum Vaults by Marc-Antoine Mathieu
Rohan at the Louvre by Hirohiko Araki
On the Odd Hours by Eric Liberge

Fire in the Sea by Myke Barlett (2012)
YA fiction / The Lists category

This won last year's The Text Prize which is awarded annually to the best manuscript for children or young adults by a Australian or New Zealand writer. This one was more of an adventure fantasy with shades of Percy Jackson and Pirates of the Caribbean maybe. There's a lot of action, fighting, goring by a sea-based Minotaur and mystery, all set in Fremantle, Western Australia. When Sadie and her friend Tom stop an old man from being mugged on the waterfront her summer turns into one big adventure that just gets weirder and weirder.
This reminded me of the first Text Prize winner, The Billionaire's Curse, it's just a little silly plot-wise but as a reader you don't really mind as the fast pace has already sucked you in. And you're left with the possibility of a sequel at least.

I think it's interesting that they give the award to action stories. The American awards seem to go to books with historical or deep literary import. While they are appreciated by adult readers, they may not attract the target audience. An example of this is Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, an amazing story in verse about a young girl during the Dust Bowl. I have never been able to entice a student to read this excellent book.

mamzel, maybe because it's a prize awarded by a publisher, Text Publishing, so they are more likely to award it to a manuscript that will actually become a good seller. I would expect that Text Publishing had the final say on the selection of the winning manuscript as they are going to be publishing it.
Awards do tend to favour more literary books which is why I prefer to read from longlists and shortlists rather than just the award winners themselves. It's sometimes worth seeking out children's choice awards, as the books that get voted for are generally not the ones that win the main awards.
A few years ago Kate De Goldi won the Book of the Year for our Children's Awards with The 10pm Question which was a crossover novel that was a bestseller for bookclubs and adults but I never saw the attraction for children or teens. It was also shortlisted in our adult book awards.
Must read Out of the Dust, I've read other books by her and loved Aleutian Sparrow.

Oooh The satanic mill! I remember stumbling on it in the library at age 10 and reading it thinking I didn't know books like this existed. I thought it was the coolest, eeriest thing ever.

Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton (2006)
scifi / audiobook / Chunkster category
Commonwealth Saga #2

Coming in at 1236pgs or 45 hours of audio this is the sequel to the equally monster-ish Pandora's Star, though you wouldn't want anything to be cut out of these space operas because the story is king here. I loved this big big story and ended up ditching the last 5 hours of audio to pick up the book and race through the final exciting chapters.
I'm looking forward to re-entering the world of the Commonwealth with the Void trilogy which is set a few hundred years in the future of these two books. First though I'm picking up Hamilton's latest book, Great North Road.

I've started listening to Genius Squad by Catherine Jinks, love those Aussie accents.

My 12in12 update:
I've just started my last book for the Israel section, A woman in Jerusalem.
I have one more nonfiction to read either Batavia or But beautiful: A Book about Jazz
I don't feel like reading more in my 'God is Back' category as I'm a bit tired of biblical retellings at present, and I've made the magic '6' already.
The Short n' Sweet needs a little work as does my chunkster category, though I'm happy when I hit the '6 books read' mark. I've read other big books this year but they're hiding in other categories. Currently reading IQ84 for this category.

1) Favourite Writers & Rereads
2) Israel & the Diaspora 11/12
3) Australia
4) New Zealand
5) Fact not Fiction 11/12
6) Short n' Sweet 7/12
7) Neverending Stories - series
8) God is Back - religious themes/retellings in fiction 6/12
9) Big Boys - chunksters / omnibus editions 4/12
10) The Crowded Nest - Mt tbr
11) The Lists - booklists, longlists, shortlists, award winners etc
12) Dropbox - anything goes
Baker's Dozen bonus Category - graphic novels & picturebooks

Steel Pelicans by Des Hunt (2012)
children's fiction, new zealand

I really enjoyed this one though I'm a bit unsure at it being considered a children's book, for me it was definitely more YA.
Pelly is getting quite concerned over his best friend Dean's increasing experimentation with home-made bombs. The latest explosion was quite scary and Pelly is almost relieved when his parents say they are moving back to New Zealand.
Des Hunt was a physics teacher and has written a heap of books since retiring, most with an ecological theme wrapped up in a big adventure. Here the ecological message is more muted and the danger stakes are much higher.
I think I'll have to take a drive out to Port Waikato where much of the action is set.

> 97

The Stead book looks interesting! And now you've given me more to add to my "Biblical fiction" category...

What a stunning beach shot! That book sounds like a fun one. I wonder how hard it would be to find it in the States.

ETA - Not available on Amazon. Darn.

I would have picked up Steel Pelicans on the cover alone!

I agree with Eva - that's a great cover. I'm going to have to look for Steel Pelicans.

I agree on the cover - and the title!

Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones (1997)
fiction / Favourite writer category

This is the first 'Magid' book, I'd read the sequel last month. This one was published for adults while the second book has a younger touch to it and I don't really think it I lost too much by reading the second book first.
The setting for much of the action for this one is a fantasy convention in a confusing hotel in a small English village, confusing because there are magical forces at play and the corridors can at times seem endless with too many corners. The many normal attendees don't realise that there is an influx of visitors from parallel worlds, that dark forces are playing for high stakes. Fun to read as usual though I did take my time with this one.

115> Jonathan - you'll probably like this one.

116-119> Really happy that you like the cover art of Steel pelicans, it is rather great. The title comes from the 'gang of two' - the main character's nickname is Pelly and his Australian friend's surname is Steele, so they call themselves the 'Steel Pelicans'. The story had quad bikes, beach buggies, smuggling, bullying, risk taking, explosives and a 'P' lab all happening, exciting YA reading. I never knew you could use matches to make quite effective explosions.

I heard Des Hunt talk to a group of students a couple of years ago and he was really great, using science to show how you build anticipation in a story.

Really excited to find Steel Pelicans now. I love Dianna Wynne Jones too, but have other books by her on the shelf to hit before I'm looking for more. ;)

I have about four more DWJ books that I'd like to get to in the next 6 months or so. Year of the Griffin will probably be next up as it's the sequel to Dark Lord of Derkholm which I read last year.

I'd recommend any of Des Hunt's children's books and can probably put a couple on bookmooch if anyone expresses interest, unfortunately Steel Pelicans was a library book so not that one.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (2011)
fiction, japan / Big Boys category
927pgs
This was the October group read over in the 75 books group and I'm amazed that I managed to finish it in October as I only picked it up and really got going these past few days. Just like with Kafka on the Shore I was completely captivated by the story and ended up flying through books 2 & 3. This is my third book by Murakami and I'm now quite keen to tackle his Wind up Bird Chronicle, probably next year.
I loved so many aspects of this book, the weirdness, the love story threads between Tengo and Aomame, the minor characters such as Taramu the bodyguard and the grotesque Ushikawa; the Cat Town story, Chekov's 'if there is a gun in the play then it must be used', Aomame reading Proust. I loved the length of the book, that we could soak in all the atmosphere, the description of the moon/s, Tengo then Ushikawa sitting on the slide at night, having to imagine an air chrysalis, the NHK collector knocking and haranguing.
What I didn't so much enjoy was the overly sexual imagery that constantly cropped up and I wasn't so taken with the idea of the 'little people'.

I'm looking forward to re-reading The hobbit this month in anticipation of the movie. Here's the link to the AirNZ Middle earth safety video

I've only read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but liked that one enough to stock my shelves with Murakami-books. As usual, though, as soon as any book is on a shelf in my home, I look elsewhere for things to actually read. Need to do something about that! :) 1Q84 is absolutely on the wishlist!

Eva - I strongly recommend the audio version of Kafka on the Shore. Oliver Le Sueur as Kafka is a wonderful listen.

Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle (2003)
graphic memoir / Baker's Dozen

I followed up reading Delisle's Jerusalem graphic memoir with this older one. He spends a couple of months in North Korea overseeing animation work being done for a French production company. It's a quite interesting glimpse into the dictatorship of Kim Jong-il. What a barren existence for most of these people and I don't think much has changed since his son took over...

A news story from a couple of days ago:
The young wife of North Korea’s leader has made her first public appearance in two months, bringing to an end what might have been a period of ‘home detention’ for being too carefree. dailymail.co.uk

I love Murakami, so I'm tempted by IQ84. A friend of mine is reading it on her e-reader and was wondering why it kept going and going and going... so if I do read it, I'll have to get an e-reader!!! I don't want to have a nearly 1000 page book fall on my face when I'm reading in bed. Glad you enjoyed it!

Another good review of iq84 I read and enjoyed wind up bird and Kafka on the shore but also read a few others and not enjoyed them so much so am these days nervous about Muakami

That NZ airlines video is cute, looks like they had lots of fun making it :-)

->126 avatiakh:
Shoot, I already have a papercopy of that one.

ETA: Actually, I just listened to the sample and I love his voice - I may go with audio regardless!

Eva, I had two copies of Kafka and still went with 'the voice'.

Psutto - there's been quite a bit of love for this one over on our group read. Those who found it hard going were the ones who read it slowly.

Adding some colour to my thread:


Poo Bum by Stephanie Blake (2002 French) (2011 English translation)
picture book / Simon le lapin series
What I like is the illustration style, similar to Dick Bruna's Miffy books though a larger format than his books. The 'story' follows a little rabbit, Simon, who says 'poo bum' in answer to everything. It's almost appealing, though I'm not fond of toilet humour in children's picturebooks and I really did not go for the last page when baby rabbit finally comes out with a new word, "fart".
Blake is an American who lives in Paris, and this book was published by New Zealand's Gecko Press who specialise in translating popular European picturebooks.


Stupid Baby by Stephanie Blake (2006 French) (2011 English translation)
picture book / Simon le lapin series
Another translation in the Simon the rabbit series from Gecko Press. Simon has to deal with a new baby brother. I'd be concerned that 'stupid baby' would quickly become the catch phrase of any toddler with a new addition to the family. The illustration style is really vivid.


A home for Bird by Philip C. Stead (2012)
picturebook
I loved A sick day for Amos McGee which won the Caldicott Medal last year and this one is a quirky followup. I enjoyed it, love the illustrations. The bird from a cuckoo clock falls out of a removal van and Vernon the frog, thinking the little bird is just too timid to speak, embarks on a journey to find the bird's home.
http://philipstead.com/


A great cake by Tina Matthews (2012)
picture book
Matthews' first picturebook, Out of the Egg, was an outstanding sampling of printblock illustration. This one isn't so interesting from an illustration point of view but the story is heartwarming. A little boy wants to make a cake and over the course of the book makes several pretend ones just using whatever props he comes across and the mother makes use of the 'teachable' moment each time. At the end the father unpacks the weekly grocery shopping and declares they have everything to make a cake, so they do. 'A great cake to share with friends' and they do.
Matthews is a New Zealander who lives in Australia. http://ttinamatthews.com/


Grandma McGarvey's Christmas by Jenny Hessell (2012)
picturebook
The Grandma McGarvey books are a bit of a New Zealand institution and this latest one still hits the spot. They have all been illustrated by Trevor Pye, who has a lovely comic style and Hessell always successfully manages to produce prose that flows well. Grandma McGarvey is a bit of an eccentric, and here she arrives at a caravan park for a summer holiday. Madcap madness begins when she settles down for a quiet spot of celebration.
'the pudding went WHOOSH and glowed in the dark,
then it spluttered and flared and shot out a spark.
And the dog gave a yelp and scampered outside...

185) Genius Squad by Catherine Jinks (2008)
children's fiction / Australia category
This is the second in the Evil Genius trilogy, I read the first one years ago and decided to pick this one up when I saw it available on audio at my library. Loved the Aussie accents and kinda enjoyed the story. I couldn't remember all the details of the first book, but Cadel was a bit like Artemis Fowl, a bit of an anti-hero keen to have a life of crime, but eventually sees the error of his ways. So in book 2, instead of having an ambiguous hero, we have a scared boy who is living in fear of his enemies, which doesn't quite have the same appeal. I'll pick up the final volume and see how it all turns out.


The Composition by Antonio Antonio Skármeta (1998)
illustrated story / Chile / The Lists category
This powerful story won the Americas Book Award and the Jane Adams Award for best picture book promoting peace and social justice.
Pedro is a young boy whose main interest in life is getting a proper soccer ball and scoring goals. But he and his parents live in Chile under a repressive regime. One day a soldier, Captain Romo, comes to the classroom and asks the children to write a composition 'What my family does at night', write about everything, who comes to their house, everything they do, what they talk about, what they say about television programmes and there'll be a prize for the best composition. We know that Pedro's parents listen each evening to anti-dictatorship programmes on the radio but not till the last page do we get to know what Pedro writes about.
The artwork by Alfonso Ruano is done in a sympathetic realist style.

Ooo Oo Oo!!! I'm going to have to look for the Evil Genius series - see if I can get Leah to get it for our school library. Jink's The Reformed Vampire Support Group is one of the best YA romps I've read for awhile. Speaking of reluctant readers - it looks like this series is perfect for them.

The Composition looks appropriately terrifying!

The Composition sounds interesting

Katie - Evil Genius is really good and I also loved her Reformed Vampires and the Abused Werewolves books.

Eva and Alana - for a picturebook it carried a very strong message

A woman in Jerusalem by A.B. Yehoshua (2004)
fiction, Israel & Diaspora category

This completes my Israel Diaspora category. I enjoyed this quiet novel that follows the human resources manager from a bakery in Jerusalem on a voyage of self discovery. A newspaper reporter has discovered that a victim of a terrorist attack, who has remained unidentified for several days, was on the payroll of the bakery. They are about to be exposed as uncaring and the HR Manager is sent by the owner to uncover the mystery of this woman.
I also followed up and watched the movie The Human Resources Manager which was directed by Eran Riklis who also made The Syrian Bride.

Scramasax by Kevin Crossley-Holland (2012)
fiction, YA
Neverending series

This is the second book in the Viking Sagas. In the first book we followed Solveig as she travelled from the North to find her father who is in Miklagard (Constantinople). In this instalment she travels with the Viking army to fight the infidel in Sicily. I'll have no trouble tackling the third book when it comes out. A scramasax is a type of Viking dagger.


Who could that be at this hour? by Lemony Snicket (2012)
All the Wrong Questions (Bk 1)
children's fiction / Favourite Writers

This follows in the tradition of the 'Unfortunate Event' series and if you like the language play in those then here, there is more of the same. I'm fairly sated with this type of reading so probably won't continue with the series but children will find these fun.
The wonderful retro illustrations are by Seth and my only complaint is that there aren't enough of them.

A high wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes (1929)
fiction / The Crowded Nest

A group of young children travelling from Jamaica to England end up in the 'care' of pirates. The story gets a little primal, but there are some very memorable moments especially the 'circus at sea'. The writing was a little dense at times and the children were quite wild, uncontrollable and a little (for me) unlikeable. Their relationship with the pirates was really interesting, Hughes treated the story almost like a social experiment and it did remind me of Lord of the Flies which was published in 1954. I must reread that one.
A High Wind in Jamaica was made into a film in 1965 starring Anthony Quinn and James Coburn as the pirates and Martin Amis plays one of the children.

Crusade in Jeans by Thea Beckman (1973)
YA fiction, The Netherlands / The Lists

The book is also included in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up and the book won a couple of awards back when it was first published including the Gouden Griffel (Golden Pen) in 1974. This ended up on my tbr list a few years ago, I no longer remember how or who recommended it and apart from a bit of a clunky start with a time machine this was a highly enjoyable read.
14 yr old Rudolf (Dolf) convinces his father that he should be the first to use the untested time machine that's been built. He's a history buff and keen to visit the 13th century to see a particular jousting tournament in France. Instead he gets stranded in south Germany in 1212 and ends up joining a children's crusade. In a short time he becomes one of the leaders of the crusade as it travels overland to Genoa, helping organise the children so they can survive the harsh journey. While Dolf remains skeptical of the whole idea of the crusade he can't help seeing it as one great adventure, and the children benefit greatly by his organisational skills.

From wikipedia: The Children's Crusade is the name given to a disastrous Crusade by European Catholics to expel Muslims from the Holy Land said to have taken place in 1212. The traditional narrative is probably conflated from some factual and mythical notions of the period including visions by a French or German boy, an intention to peacefully convert Muslims in the Holy Land to Christianity, bands of children marching to Italy, and children being sold into slavery. A study published in 1977 cast doubt on the existence of these events, and many historians came to believe that they were not (or not primarily) children but multiple bands of "wandering poor" in Germany and France, some of whom tried to reach the Holy Land and others who never intended to do so.

But Beautiful: a book about Jazz by Geoff Dyer (1991)
nonfiction category - now complete

An outstanding book, offering inspired glimpses into the lives of some of the great Jazz musicians, Lester Young, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Ben Webster, Chet Baker, Charles Mingus and Art Pepper, this has to be one of my best reads for the year. Page after page of wonderful jazz inspired writing, you feel like you're in the room with these men. Dyer's starting points are first-hand accounts of these great musicians' lives, memoirs and liner notes, and particularly photographs - his destinations are gloriously creative evocations of a time and a sound, of the immense spirit of these extraordinary players, and the cities with which their lives and music became entwined. City of Sound review
Dyer on Thelonius Monk -
"Part of jazz is the illusion of spontaneity and Monk played the piano as though he'd never seen one before. Came at it from all angles, using his elbows, taking chops at it, rippling through the keys like they were a deck of cards, fingers jabbing at them like they were hot to the touch or tottering around them like a woman in heels - playing it all wrong as far as classical piano went. Everything came out crooked, at an angle, not as you expected. If he'd played Beethoven, sticking exactly to the score, just the way he hit the keys, the angle at which his fingers touched the ivory, would have unsteadied it, made it swing and turn around inside itself, made it a Monk tune."

Dyer on Chet Baker -
That was how he had always played and always would. Every time he played a note he waved it goodbye. Sometimes he didn't even wave. Those old songs, they were used to being loved and wanted by the people who played them; musicians hugged them and made them feel brand-new, fresh. Chet left a song feeling bereft. When he played it the song needed comforting: it wasn't his playing that was packed with feeling, it was the song itself, feeling hurt. You felt every note trying to stay with him a little longer, pleading with him. The song itself cried out to anyone who would listen: please, please, please.

I don't like jazz but I love those descriptions! :-)

Claire - I'm partial to a bit of jazz from time to time, there are so many types. This book is excellent, Dyer dives straight in and gives you the soul of these men.

Interesting review of Crusade in Jeans. I've never heard of it. Is it done sensitively enough to work with a diverse student population? We have many Christians and Muslims in our school.

Hi Katie. I'm thinking that it would be quite interesting as it is set in a time period where the church had such control over people's lives in that the only learning they received was a faith-based one. The children are filled with a 'glory of God' and convinced that when they arrive in Genoa that the sea will part for them like it did for Moses and they will be able to cross to the Holy Land, when in fact they are being duped and heading for a different fate altogether. I don't think it denigrates the Muslim faith, more talks generally about the Infidel, which the children have no clear perception of.
The idea explored more fully in the book is one of a 'blind faith', not questioning but simply believing, God will provide vs facing the reality and doing something about it for yourself which was fairly heritical thinking in those times. There's a touch of mob mentality in it as well. Overall I think you'd have to read the book to know if it was truly suitable.

These graphic novels are all from The Louvre Collection. There is another due to be published in February, An Enchantment by Christian Durieux. Added to my Baker's Dozen.


On the odd hours by Eric Liberge (2008 Fr) (2010 Eng)
graphic novel / The Louvre Collection
Again just as with the first title from the Louvre Collection, Glacial Period, I had problems with the small size of the book which just doesn't do justice to the great artwork and scripting. An angry and deaf young man is at the Louvre for an internship interview, but on getting sidetracked meets an odd employee who tells him his internship is at night and involves the odd hours. Since the louvre was opened there has always been a caretaker for the odd hours when balance is readjusted between the soul of the artworks and their still life in the galleries. I enjoyed this.



The Museum Vaults: Excerpts from the Journal of an Expert by Marc-Antoine Mathieu (2006)
graphic novel / The Louvre Collection
An art expert tours the endless passageways, the endless rooms on the endless levels below in the vaults of the museum. Really well done with excellent artwork. Mathieu, an artist who marries Escher with Kafka, brings stinging irony to the pompousness of art history.




Rohan at the Louvre by Hirohiko Araki (2010) (2012, Eng)
graphic novel / The Louvre Collection
This is a manga and read from back to front...and comes with vivid colour. Rohan comes to the Louvre to view a long lost painting by a Japanese artist. There's a legen grown up around it, that 300 years earlier the artist had found a new source for black ink and painted a portrait of his wife, but never painted another work with the ink. Horror elements in this appealing story.


The sky over the Louvre by Yslaire (2011)
graphic novel / The Louvre Collection
Loved loved this one. Based around time of the founding of the Louvre and the French Revolution. Robespierre ("The Incorruptible") asks the artist Jacques-Louis David to paint a portrait of the Supreme Being, but instead he focuses on a portrait of a young martyr, Bara, using a youth, Jules, newly arrived from the land of the Khazars as his model.

Picturebooks added to my Baker's Dozen


Charley's First Night by Amy Hest (2012)
illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
Heartwarming story of a puppy's first night in his new home. Shows the growing bond between the young boy and his new pet. ...and how a puppy almost always ends up in someone's bed instead of the kitchen/laundry.


The Tobermory Cat by Deb Gliori (2012)
This book has gleaned a lot of press coverage due to a dispute with some guy with a FB fan page for the cat who feels he has ownership of the whole idea of the Tobermory cat. A Scottish publisher was on holiday in the isle of Mull and saw how the cat was famous and felt it was worthy of a picturebook and Gliori agreed to do it. The book is rather fun and I love Gliori's illustrations.
Read all about it - Cat at centre of bitter children's book scrap - dispute over right to tell story based on real-life 'Tobermory cat' turns bitter.


Ladder to the Moon by Maya Soetoro-Ng (2011)
illustrated by Yuyi Morales
I didn't really get this rather dreamy story of togetherness but quite liked the sumptuous artwork. The author is the half sister of Barack Obama. A young girl goes on a dream journey to the moon and meets her grandmother for the first time. It's sort of a love the world, save humanity book.

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Trouble Gum by Matthew Cordell (2009)
All the possible perils of chewing on bubblegum come to light here. Fun with little pig, Ruben and his sidekick little brother who despite all Mother's best efforts manage to bring chaos to their household. I blame Granny who brought the bubblegum in the first place.
Another Brother by Matthew Cordell (2012)
Little sheep Davy is the apple of his parent's eye, that is until he's joined by a brother, then another, and another... Another fun story. Davy hates that all twelve of his brothers copy his every move....that is till one day when they finally all go their own ways.



Life doesn't frighten Me by Maya Angelou (1993)
illustrated by Jean-Michel Basquiat
Angelou's powerful 1978 poem is illustrated by bold paintings by Basquiat and the result is truly spectacular. There should be a warning that the images might prove frightening to some younger readers as the art is indeed really strong. I love this book.



There's a youtube reading of the book here

My Map Book by Sara Fanelli (1995)
picturebook
Fanelli is a rather superb illustrator with a modern style. This book would be fun to share with younger children and would certainly have them dashing off their own versions of her book. Each double page spread is a map of different places, spaces, concepts and even parts of the human body...'map of the seaside, map of my face, map of my day, colour map, map of my dog etc. I'll have to look out for more of her work.

A wild sheep chase by Haruki Maurakami (1982)
fiction, japan / ipod audio
Dropbox category

This is the third book in Murakami's Rat trilogy, but the other two seem to be really hard to source and for me, the book was fine as a stand alone read.
Publishing a photograph of a flock of sheep that has been sent to him by a friend, pitches a rather aimless 20-something on a hunt across Japan for a elusive sheep with mythical powers. Sounds weird but I rather enjoyed all the characters in this one. 'The Mad sheep professor, the 'sheepman', Rat, the girlfriend with the 'ears'. Typical of Murakami and I'll be reading more.
NB: There is a small flock of sheep in the paddock next to our driveway (we live on the border between city/country) and I have to say that I'm scrutinising them much more of late. In the early morning they come right up to our fence and I make good eye contact with several of them!
I recently discovered Israeli designer, Noma Bar's range of Murakami covers for Vintage - quite spectacular to view them in a group.

Black Spring by Alison Croggon (2012)
YA fiction / Australia category

This is billed as a fantasy retelling of Wuthering Heights and I was quite excited to get my hands on it. The first thing I realised was that if I'm not a fan of Wuthering Heights then I'm going to find a retelling hard going, but overall I thought the fantastical elements enhanced the story and there was enough difference to keep me reading. The problem is the same as I had with the Twilight series, the two main characters just don't do it for me.
Croggon keeps the same story within a story idea, with the housekeeper telling the visitor to the region the history of the family whose property he is renting for the summer. The northern land has witches and wizards and a harsh law involving vendettas with a Blood Tax that keeps the king's coffers full. Lina is descended from a family of witches on her mother's side, while Damek is her father's ward and probably the illegitimate son of the king. I found the world Croggon created to be remarkably harsh, cold and brutal and ideal for this tale.
I read Wuthering Heights about four years ago.
You can read about Croggon's inspiration for the story here.

When Empire Calls by Ken Catran (2012)
junior fiction / New Zealand category

Catran's second military book of the year and this one is about New Zealanders going to fight in the Boer War. The British were at the height of their Empire building and their call to arms inspired many young NZ horsemen to make the journey to South Africa and join the fight. The story is told by the young brother left at home and through the letters he receives about what war is really like from his older brother, his second brother hardly writes home at all. Added to this, is the loner local grocer who strikes a relationship of sorts with the boy. We find out later on that he's a veteran of New Zealand's own Land Wars from an earlier period. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery but is in the 'war is futile' club. Catran only writes good books and I've got one more from this year of his to read, Dead Harry.


Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin (2011)
junior fiction / The Lists

This was a Newbery Honour Book earlier this year. Set in the Soviet Union Sasha fully embraces the idea of Stalin's communism, his Dad's a hero and Sasha has been longing to join the Young Pioneers. Finally he is old enough and the big day is here, but the harshness of the regime suddenly hits home. A very quick enjoyable read.

The Enchanted Flute by James Norcliffe (2012)
YA fiction, New Zealand

This is a retelling of sorts of the mythology of Pan. When Becky's mother buys her a flute in a dusty old pawnshop they have no idea of the trouble it will cause. Becky quickly finds out that it will only play one tune and while she starts to hate the flute is also drawn to it. Her music teacher recognises the tune as Debussy's Syrinx solo and tells Becky the story of Syrinx. Wandering home Becky finds herself by the garden of an old house where a wheelchair bound old man, Dr Faunus insists that she plays for him each afternoon. Along with a friend she ends up in the world of Arcadia, where there is a power struggle between the Nymphs and Dr Faunus with Becky and her flute at the centre of it all. I found my disinterest in fauns getting in the way of an interesting retelling. Quite a dark story as Becky and Johnny were not safe on either side of this struggle.

Kerry, you always manage to read such interesting books! The Louvre Collection has really caught my eye.

What Lori said! :) I want all of those graphic novels and the Murakami covers are fantastic.

Wow! You've been reading a lot. The Louvre series looks great, & I'll put Crusade in Jeans on the WL - it sounds interesting but not one I'd want to discuss with kids at a public school.

I've enjoyed the Louvre series, so diverse, and was especially wowed by the last book. I would love to own a print of that cover art, and I've never been a fan of orange.

Good decision with Crusade in Jeans.

Goblin Secrets by William Alexander (2012)
children's fiction / The Lists

I got this from the library when it was shortlisted for the National Book Awards, then it went on to win the award so I just had to read it before the due date. Quite fun to be reading about goblins here at the same time as I'm reading about goblins in The Hobbit. I really liked the strange world that Alexander has evoked in his city of Zombay, there is magic, sinister birds, steampunkish clockwork operated beings, witches and goblins, curses and masks. The plot revolves around an orphan, Rownie who gets caught up with a Goblin theatre group when looking for his brother. The goblin actors wear masks which have a power of their own and their performances seem to cast a magical spell over their audience.
This is the first in a series and is a complete story but leaves so much of this unusual world unexplained/unexplored, I'm already looking forward to the later books.

I commented on a bunch of New Zealand picturebooks over on my 75 challenge thread that I don't want to repeat here.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/144499#3696010


Sleep like a tiger by Mary Logue (2012)
illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski
I forgot about this gorgeous new picturebook that I came across on the papertigers.org website. Papertigers promote multicultural children's books and literacy around the Pacific Rim and have an interesting blog that I try to follow. I picked it up from the library yesterday and first found the illustrations rich and engaging and then as the story develops found this to be a great bedtime story which will have little ones trying out all types of sleeping positions like the different animals. I'm adding it to my list of bedtime picturebooks that I adore, below are a few of my favourites though there are bound to be other good ones around.
Zagarenski illustrated Caldicott Honour Book (2011) Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors. There is an interview with the artist and lots of beautiful images over on the Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog

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My Brother's War by David Hill (2012)
children's fiction, New Zealand

Two brothers, both of fighting age, have different views on war. One enlists to fight in World War 1, the other becomes a conchie, a conscientious objector (CO) and must suffer for his view on war. The books covers the journey they both make and the respect they end up with for each other. The reader learns about how the COs were treated during this war and the horrors of trench warfare. Quality fare from Mr Hill as usual, this ranks up with Ken Catran's Jacko Moran, sniper as a good war read for the intermediate age group (10-14yrs).

The City & the City by China Miéville
fiction / iPod audiobook / Crowded Nest category

This is basically a detective novel but set in a scifi-ish fantastical environment in East Europe where there are two cities superimposed on each other. It is a crime to take note of anything from the other city, citizens are trained from childhood to not look at the other city or the inhabitants, doing so invokes Breach, a mysterious controlling super power overseeing both cities. Inspector Tyador Borlú lives in Besźel, and the story opens when he is called in to investigate a murder, but he finds that the body has arrived from the other city and must cross the border to Ul Qoma to assist the police there to uncover the mystery. Weird but good and at times quite exciting. I wouldn't say no to entering this world again.

The next audiobook in my queue was The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson and I'm already well into enjoying this one, seems to be set in a similar world to his brilliant Snow Crash.

The City and the City is on my To Read list so I am happy to see the 'weird but good' comment.... not that that kind of comment regarding a Miéville book is all that surprising...... ;- )

That was my thought too when I read The City & The City - I wouldn't have minded a continuation or a prequel, but it may be that I'm so used to mysteries coming along in series-format. :)

I picked this one up because Bianca (drachenbraut23) mentioned that the narrator of several of Miéville's books is John Lee, who I really enjoy from listening to.
The whole idea of two cities superimposed on each other is just....weird and interesting.

I must get to some of Mieville's books soon given the almost universal good comments I've seen on LT. The City & The City is on my wishlist.

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (1937)
fiction / Favourites category

This was a reread, I've read The Hobbit a few times and wanted to refresh my memory before the movie comes out next month. Love it, will always remain a favourite story of mine. A hobbit goes on an unexpected journey and has adventures by the bucketful. I'm going to have to get the audio and listen to it next time.

> 147

You're not helping my weakness for graphic novels. :) Really can't risk one of these given that finals are next week...

> 161

The premise here reminds me of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles. There's a vignette where a human and a Martian run into one another on a deserted country road. Each one points a different direction to the magnificant metropolis they are on the way to. The human looks at the Martian's city and where the alien sees a lively place, he sees ruined heaps. Their confusion never gets resolved.

This is how you lose her by Junot Diaz (2012)
Short n' Sweet

A series of stories following the life of Yunior, a boy/young man from the Dominican Republic. Each story is a snapshot of his life and the women or lack of women in it. There's a lot about life, love and all that's inbetween in these stories. His writing really appeals and I'm going to move his novel up my Mt tbr for sure.
Earlier this year I listened to a New Yorker fiction podcast of Diaz reading his story 'How to date a Brown Girl' and this is the voice I 'heard' while reading each story. That story comes from his Drown collection.

Which novel? I have Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao on my Mt TBR. That seems to be his most popular book. I haven't read any Diaz yet.

#167> Jonathan - I have to read me some more Ray Bradbury, that sound really interesting. I've only read The illustrated Man and loved the story about the children's playroom, The Veldt.

Those graphic novels can wait. Good luck with your finals. I'm enjoying the diversity of each one and how they all tie back in to the Louvre.

Katie - yes, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, I was assuming he'd only written one novel.

The glassblower's children by Maria Gripe (1964)
children's, sweden
Dropbox

I picked up a book by Maria Gripe at a used bookshop during last year's LT meetup with kiwinyx and was interested immediately when I saw that Gripe had been awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for children's literature in 1974. She was also the Swedish winner of the Dobloug Prize for Swedish and Norwegian fiction in 1979. Subsequent chat on my 2013 category challenge thread got me interested to read something by Gripe asap.

A darkly magical story about a poor couple whose young children go missing and a kindly witch, Flutter Mildweather and her one-eyed raven, Wise Wit who help them. The children have been taken by the Lord of All Wishes Town for his Lady of Wishes who live in a mansion and don't really know how to be happy. This had several unsettling supernatural elements and I can see why it would make a strong impression on child readers. The two children are too young to help themselves and their situation with the Lord and Lady and then with the governess, Nana, is quite unsettling.

Gripe's husband, Harald Gripe, illustrated the book and these drawings add to the atmosphere of the story.

Yes, Gripe is indeed one of our greatest childrens authors. And, I managed to completely miss almost everything she wrote when I was a kid. I am trying to rectify it now, but it's not the same. :(

Eva - I often wonder what I read as a child as I seem to have missed so many wonderful books that I'm only discovering now.

I know! I do know that I reread my favorite books over and over, so maybe that's why I missed a lot.

I did the same. And books like The lion the witch and the wardrobe, my school library only had that one, so I only discovered the rest of the series when I was 18 and in my favourite bookstore. I immediately put the set on layby and given my paltry wage, paid it off over the following weeks.
I read lots of horse & animal books and all my brothers' adventure novels.

I can't tell you how many times I reread the Narnia series. And, my big favorite, The Silver Brumby - I'm still on the lookout for a copy of Son of the Whirlwind that won't murder my wallet. :) I wish I had kept track when I was a kid - if only a list of titles - just so I could have an idea of what I read. I remember the big favorites, obviously, but there must have been oodles that I don't remember.

Why is it that children love to read and re-read their favorites? I couldn't even begin to guess how many times I read both Little Women and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, two of my personal favorites from childhood.

I was just checking my local trading site for that book and noticed that Mitchell's daughter has just published a biography of her mother, Elyne Mitchell: A Daughter Remembers
http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Elyne-Mitchell-Honor-Auchinleck/9780732293499

I loved The Silver Brumby but don't remember reading any others, I was a victim of a small town school library I suppose. And our town library just had a shelf of children's books. I loved Black Beauty and the Mary O'Hara books, plus Misty of Chincoteague

A pivotal childhood moment for me was that opening of the wardrobe door. Surely my first real magical moment in reading.

Funnily enough, my small town school library owned all the Silver Brumby-titles and there was a group of us that would take turns borrowing them and rereading over and over. Although, in Swedish, the main character was called Windy, not Thowra. Not sure why they changed a non-Swedish name to another non-Swedish name. :)

Big childhood magic moment for me? Absolutely when Skorpan dies and wakes up in Nangijala in The Brothers Lionheart. I can still hardly think about it (not to mention read it) without a little tear showing up at the corner of my eye. :)

Hmmm - looks like you are right about Junot Diaz. The other books he's listed as having written appear to be short story collections. That kind of surprises me.

I'd never heard of The Glassblower's Children. It does sound intriguing, and perhaps kind of in the tradition of the Grimm's fairytales.

Eva, I can imagine that moment for a child. I read the book for the first time a year or so ago so the magic was a little lost on me.

Katie, I keep thinking about the children in The Glassblower's Children, they were very young and totally vulnerable.

Kind of chilling

Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (1969)
historical fiction / Neverending series

This is #4 in the Lymond Chronicles and another highly enjoyable read. Lymond and his friends travel all over 16thC Mediterranean and end up in Constantinople in their search for the 'pawn' in a deadly game with Lymond's enemy.

Glad to see you enjoyed the city & the city and another prompt for me to get back to reading Dunnett!

@ 185 -- I remember trying the first Lymond book...I gave it 50 pages and then gave up for some reason. It's a series I want to like, though, if that makes sense. Maybe I should try it again next year.

Christina - I find each book a little hard to get into, but really rewarding as it all comes together. The book I just finished above is one I started in July and failed to get past the first 40pgs. I'm reading them at a really slow pace of 1 or 2 per year. I recommend you give the first Lymond book another chance.
Might be helpful to read this blog post & the comments by gaskella
http://gaskella.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/should-i-do-dorothy-dunnett/

I also found a few boards on pinterest devoted to Lymond and who would play the characters.

__
Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner (2012)
YA fiction / The Lists category
I had this home from the library gathering dust, then noticed that it was shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards so decided to read it ahead of the space opera I'm currently making slow progress on. Sally Gardner struggled with severe dyslexia, not learning to read or write properly till she was 14 and her protagonist, Standish Treadmill, has similar problems.
The story is intoxicating, Standish is struggling at school now that his friend Hector has disappeared. Standish lives with his grandfather in one of the only buildings left in a street full of rubble. We are in some form of totalitarian rule and there is a huge secret that needs to be told to the world at large, a truth that the repressive Motherland is hiding.
The story is told from Standish's point of view and the chapters can be very short, so it takes a long while to understand all that's happening around him and what's happening is fairly grim. This is a great book, its got the hooks to entice a more reluctant reader in and enough difference to keep a regular reader glued to the pages. I read it straight through.
For the boys, illustrations tell their own story at the bottom of the page we follow the life cycle of the fly through the death of a rat, the rise of the maggot etc which sort of reflects the path of the story.

Operation Bunny by Sally Gardner (2012)
children's fiction / Wings & Co #1
Drop Box category
This is the first in what should become a great series for girls who like their fairies to be more original. Emily Vole was discovered as a baby in an abandoned hat box at Stansted Airport. She's adopted by a rich selfish couple who quickly demote her to housekeeper (she's only 4yrs old) when they discover that they are expecting triplets. Thank goodness that the next door neighbour has a talking cat and secrets in her attic.
There's lots of action, an evil witch, zombie triplets, those awful parents and a fairy detective shop waiting to be discovered.

I first came to Sally Gardner through her illustrated books, The fairy catalogue and A book of princesses. Now I want to read the sequel to her French Revolution book, The Red Necklace, as I just picked up a $1 copy of The Silver Blade in a remainder bin.

I have the first three of the Lymond Chronicles on Mt. TBR - thanks for the heads-up that they take some time getting into. The font in my copies is tiny, so I've yet to take the leap. :)

LOL - I can't believe I'm having trouble getting past the "maggot' issue. It sounds like it's probably a great book, but I'm squirming. (But boys love gross!)

Gross indeed, holding the book means putting your hands on the illustrations!

Eva - my problem too is the small font size. You read and read and read and read and find that you've managed 3 more pages! Lymond is really a great character and now that I'm further along in the series lots of other characters are also becoming favourites. I especially like the women in these books, strong and bolshie.

The series sounds so very intriguing every time anyone mentions it, but also a little intimidating (especially if I'll only get to turn the page once every 30 minutes or so...). I saw in that Gaskella-thread that there's a Companion - I'm definitely getting my hands on that before starting!

I'm currently reading the second Dunnett, and you've pin-pointed the problem - I read for an hour then realise I've read a miserable number of pages. But she packs a lot into those pages and Lymond is a great character so I'm not complaining.

From my vague recollection I thought the 1st book started off a bit slowly but by the end I was hooked on the series (yes the series meanders but its fun!)... I keep meaning to reread but they are soooo long.

Hmm actually I ought to complete The House of Niccolo series first.

Maybe use an audiobook version instead, so that you don't see how few pages go by?! :)

192 - eeeyouuuuuuu!!!! I hope they didn't find a way to make the illustrations touch-and-feely!

#198: that's pretty much how I felt this morning when I looked outside at what my cat left over from his latest hunt & eat expedition.

LOL! They're so generous, aren't they, to share the spoils of war. :)

>172 avatiakh: Like Eva, I missed out on Gripe growing up (the general notion among my friends was she wrote "for girls", stupidly enough), I've read a few titles as an adult, but it isn't quite the same, is it? The glassblower's children was made into a rather good film here in Sweden some fifteen years ago, with Stellan Skarsgård and Pernilla August (that's Anakin Skywalker's mum, if you don't know the name) as the Glassblower and his wife.

Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton (2012)
scifi / Big Boys (1087pgs)

A doorstopper of a book, a great scifi adventure that took about 200 pages to settle into and then the next 900 pages just flew by. It starts in a futuristic Newcastle on Tyne, a police detective turns up to investigate a brutal murder, but the action also turns off-planet to St Libra which provides 60% of Earth's bio-fuel through a linking gateway located in Newcastle. Delightful sigh of satisfaction and now looking around for my next read...I think it will be Standing in another man's grave which I picked up from the library today.

I've now officially signed off on my chunkster category with the minimum 6 books read, three were audiobooks, so a dismal performance by me this year in reading from my collection of doorstoppers.

I have just 4 books left to be satisfied in finishing my 2012 challenge, all will be novellas or short works for my 'Short n' Sweet' category which is currently sitting at 8/12. I'm currently reading Mozart's journey to Prague by Eduard Morike.

Anders - I don't mind reading children's books now but agree that there are so many I wish I could have read as a child. Can't decide which film I'd be more interested in seeing - The Glassblower's Children or The Satanic Mill, both would be creepy.

I would hardly call your reading for this year dismal! Besides, you have to leave some for next year.

Guardian Angel by Robert Muchamore (2012)
(Cherub #14 / Aramov#2)
YA / Neverending series category
This is one of my favourite YA series and I've been in a very long queue at the library for this latest installment. CHERUB is a children's spy unit that was established in WWII and you can read about the early years in Muchamore's Henderson Boys series. The children follow a rigorous training programme and then go undercover, their controllers usually acting as their parents on these missions. They befriend the children of criminals and quickly get access that normal undercover agents spend years trying to achieve. The missions are exciting but the books also spend a lot of time on life at the CHERUB institute with it's strict policies on schooling and training.
The original Cherub series followed two siblings as they joined CHERUB up till their last missions when they turned 18 and had to exit the programme. With this new series Muchamore is following a long running mission to bring down the Aramov clan which is based in a former Soviet republic and involved in illegal smuggling of young women, drugs, weapons etc. Highly exciting stuff and can't wait for next year's instalment. For now I can catch up on the latest two of his HB series.

204> mamzel, I was mainly referring to how dismal my attempt at reading chunksters went this year especially when you consider that 3 of the 6 were audiobooks. I do have Days of Blood and Starlight up for reading this month and I see it has over 500 pgs so I might just be able to add another one to this list.

>203 avatiakh: Here's a clip from the film :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCzrKkpr6Xo

Oh, I like that. Though I was suddenly put off the idea of eating a big lunch!

I wish that CHERUB series was available in the U.S. None of them are in my public library's system.

What a shame, the series is extremely popular here as it is action adventure like the Alex Ryder books but with more realistic plots. I've waited since August for my turn to read it. The characters are quite believable with normal adolescent quirks and annoying habits.
Another similar series is the Alpha Force books by Chris Ryan, I've only read the first book. It's one where the children already have lots of skills and together they make a formidable team as shown in the first book when they are stranded on an inhospitable island in Indonesia. Whereas the CHERUB children are recruited due to their potential and receive full training, they're usually from broken homes or recently orphaned.

Ditto mamzel. I like the idea of the recruits coming from the seedier side of life.

Audiobooks are an excellent way of getting through chunksters if the hefty size is off-putting. :)

I have to agree....but I do feel guilty especially when I already own the chunkster.

Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin (2012)
children's fiction / Dropbox
This is Lin's followup to her wonderful Where the Mountain meets the Moon and just as enjoyable. Lin weaves an enchanting story with Chinese folktales, this time the main character is Rendi, who has run away from home. He ends up at a lonely place, the Village of the Clear Skies, and works as choreboy for the owner of the inn. Each night he hears crying and wonders also why there is no moon anymore in the sky. Stunning, once again a home run. Illustrated with Lin's delightful artwork, the book comes with a bibliography of Chinese folktale collections.


Mozart's Journey to Prague by Eduard Mörike (1855)
novella / short n' sweet
This short tale is about an impromptu visit that Mozart and his wife make on their way to Prague. They have stopped at an inn in the Bohemian countryside and while his wife rests, Mozart wanders off and ends up being invited to celebrate the engagement of the local gentry's niece. The couple spend an afternoon and evening in fine company and through the stories told by Mozart and his wife we come to glimpse a little into the extraordinary mind of Mozart. A charming story and one worth seeking out. The feeling of joie de vivre throughout this piece of writing is quite wonderful.

mozart's journey to prague sounds interesting, book bullet taken....

I also took the book bullet on Mozart's Journey to Prague.

> 174-176

When I was in the hospital at age 8, my second grade teacher visited me and gave me a boxed set of The Chronicles of Narnia. I also remember loving Redwall when I was in sixth grade,and read about a dozen of the series.

When I started junior high, I ditched childrens' books entirely and started reading mysteries and thrillers. I must have read tons of John Grisham and James Patterson. I saw other kids at the school reading Hank the Cowdog and could not muster up any interest. I wish someone had told me that there were intelligent, thought-provoking childrens' books out there, because I missed a lot of them. But I didn't come from a reading family (at that point, anyway) so I explored books on my own.

->213 avatiakh:
That's true, but you can tell yourself (like I do) that I need the chunkster too so that I can look up spelling of names and stuff that aren't clear from listening. Join me in my delusions!! :)

The diamond age, or, Young lady's illustrated primer by Neal Stephenson (1995)
scifi / iPod audiobook / 512pgs
Big Boys category

This worked well as an audiobook and I liked it enough that I bought a copy of Reamde on my way home from the gym this morning. I enjoyed Snowcrash more but I think the ideas he puts in play in this book are just amazing - complex and thoughtful, he builds an alternate world and societies that are really novel to spend time in. For me the plot was a little too meandering and I didn't quite get some of the ideas such as with the drummers, but as a total package this is a very interesting read. I'm going to be reading the wikipedia info on the book.
I found a compelling review on the blog of a student of feminist technoscience, ICT4D, M4D, cyborg anthropology, and new media and technology which I recommend reading. What makes the Stephenson’s story so goose-bumpely cool and exciting for me is that I’ve never before read a book that I feel really puts the human race through a test to see what happens if we are placed in a certain alternative setting and tries to alter our futures through strategic subversiveness.

Nell is a young underprivileged girl who is given an illustrated primer, a sort of interactive book, by her brother, Harv. He is part of a gang and the primer is booty from a gentleman they've mugged. As Nell grows up she receives her education from the primer through the telling of a seemingly neverending fairy tale of Princess Nell. But in a novel as complex as this one there are many other threads to follow.

#218: So Eva, after all my whining here's another audiobook that I realised as I finished it that it made my chunkster category - and I own a tatty paperback copy of it!

Standing in another man's grave by ian Rankin (2012)
fiction / Neverending series

Inspector Rebus #18. How great is Ian Rankin to resurrect our beloved Rebus and bring him out of retirement. Rebus has joined the Cold Case division where retired policemen work as civilians and look into unsolved cases, by chance he gets involved in a current investigation. I loved being able to enter the world of Rebus once again and I feel sure there is room for a couple more books.

Tatty paperback copies hardly count...! :)

Ooh, you got to the new Rebus before me! It's not out in the US yet - sounds like it was a good one! I do hope so, but I'm so excited to get to hang out with Rebus again, so I'll be forgiving regardless.

Eva - it was really good, Rebus is in very fine form. I'd just started the book and went to see Skyfall, the latest James Bond movie and was delighted that it featured the same stretch of highway that dominates the Rebus book - the A9 to Inverness and beyond. To see on the big screen what I'd just been reading about was quite thrilling.

Oh, that's excellent - perfect timing as well! Such a beautiful part of the world, Scotland. If it wasn't for the eternal rain, that's definitely where I would be living!

Rebus in "very fine form" is just what I need. Malcolm Fox is in it as well, right?

Yes, he makes a few appearances, it works quite well especially if you've read both Fox books as Fox's workmates are also briefly in it, as is Siobhan Clarke of course. You really see the contrast between the two characters, Rebus the music loving drinker who doesn't care for rules or stuffed shirts and Fox, the passionless ex-alcoholic who lives by the rules.

Oh, I'm excited now - I have been looking forward to seeing how they interact! :)

I'm sure you'll love all the music referencing too, one of the Rebus strong points which I've missed in the Fox book. I think Rankin had a lot of fun with this book, the title comes from Rebus mishearing the lyrics from a Jackie Leven song.

Ooh!! "Another Man's Rain!" I did think the book-title was odd, but that makes perfect sense. :)

You've been doing a lot of reading!!! I haven't read Grace Lin. She sounds like an author to watch for.

Two quick reads:


The Oopsatoreum by Shaun Tan (2012)
museum book / Short n' Sweet category

From Shaun Tan's website:

Following on from the successful exhibition of curiosities, The Odditoreum, Sydney Powerhouse Museum Program's Producer Helen Whitty approached me with a concept for another show involving fictional histories of real (but often quite strange) objects from their archives. While the Odditoreum wandered randomly from medieval canonballs to genetrically engineered moths, Helen's idea for the Oopsatoreum involved more of an overarching narrative, with some emphasis on mechanical objects and accidents. I responded with the character of an imaginary inventor, Henry A. Mintox (pictured above): spectacularly unsuccessful and therefore largely unknown, at least until this museum 'retrospective'. Many of the actual objects, from a hearing-aids to a mechanical dog, are recast as failed innovations. In some cases being too far ahead of their time, such as an early attempt to introduce mobile text-messaging using pre-electronic technology.

Beneath the silliness of the project there is actually an important observation: all invention begins as a daring act of imagination, and beings with a play of outlandish ideas. For every success that filters into daily use, there are countless failures that are as important a testament to creative spirit.

http://www.shauntan.net/oopsatoreum.html (a couple of extracts can be read there

I was at first disappointed that there are very few illustrations by Tan in here, but once I started reading the text I was deeply satisfied by his humour and imagination. I ended up reading aloud several of the entries to my daughter, as some were too hilarious not to share. My favourite entry was for the 'mouse slippers' that Mintox invents for his wife to help her get over her mice phobia. Needless to say it doesn't have the desired effect!
'No other invention has brought me closer to divorce proceedings', he wrote shortly after Maude had been rescued from a nearby lake. She had fallen into it after running two miles from their home, backwards all the way, desperately trying to escape her own feet. 'While I thought the element of surprise was critical, some warning my have been appropriate. Perhaps I should have attached the slippers less securely, and waited until Maude had finished her afternoon nap."


Mouse Slippers designed by Tokio Kamagai 1985.

I visited The Powerhouse Museum which is in Sydney a few years ago, it's a really interesting place and kudos to them to go for an offbeat approach like this to kick off an exhibition.


The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories 2 ed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (2012)
gift book / short n' sweet category

This is tiny but quirky. Gordon-Levitt has taken a few samples from his collaborative website hitRECord and published these little books. The link goes to the first book but I read the second volume.
These are just tiny stories, a couple of sentences and put together with interesting illustrations.
Lots of images here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/11/20/tiny-collaborative-stories/ or here: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/the-tiny-book-of-tiny-stories

LOL! I want those mouse slippers!!! They wouldn't scare me. Actually, they look a bit more like rat slippers. Mouse slippers would be about the right size for a baby.

Foster by Claire Keegan (2010)
novella / short n' sweet
This is more of a short story though published in a stand alone edition. It first appeared in a shorter form in The New Yorker so you can read it here. This is a soulful beautiful story with dark edges. An unloved young girl spends some summer weeks with her aunt and uncle while her overworked mother is at the end of another long pregnancy. She goes from a bleak and harsh environment to a home without children but one of plenty and cleanliness. There is restrained affection and it is more than she has known, but there are secrets here also. Wonderful and well worth the few minutes of your time that it takes to read this.
I heard Claire Keegan talk a couple of years ago and she is passionate and very knowledgable about literature, quoting extracts of Irish prose from memory. She read aloud from Walk the Blue Fields with her lovely Irish brogue and I was immediately a fan, though it's taken me all this time to finally read her work.


And....drumroll....I've completed my 12 in 12 challenge!!!!

I will keep reading in a few categories but have achieved my initial goals.
I'll post up my favourite books of the year etc later, for now I can get really stuck into Gone Girl.

My 13 in 2013 thread is here

Congratulations on completing your 12 in 12 challenge, Kerry!

Conga rats!!!!

congratulations!

Congratulations on finishing your challenge, Kerry!

Congratulations!

Good finish!

Congrats! and new Shaun Tan book.. yeay!

Congrats on completing your challenge.

Brava!

Big congrats from me too!! Looking forward to following along next year!

Thanks for all the attention. I'm enjoying the chance to read without worrying about filling my categories, but looking forward to my 2013 challenge too.


Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (2012)
fiction / Dropbox
Can't deny that this is a real page turner, and I loved the alternating chapters between Nick and his wife Amy telling the story of their marriage and her sudden disappearance with Nick left as the sole suspect. But I hated the last 80 or so pages and overall I felt the plot got too unbelievable, the characters just annoying.
Still a recommended read for the beach and I'll read her earlier books.

I've heard of that ending (well, not what it is, but that it veers off a bit), so I'm still undecided if I should pick it up at all. Have to ponder that a bit longer...

It's a lot of fun for all that. I'm still recommending it as I liked it enough overall and I kept those pages turning really fast.

Congrats, just off to order the Shaun Tan book....

I agree, the end gets a bit unbelievable but actually it isn't the very end I twigged on. It was SPOILER her rich friend. I can certainly see why you'd describe them as annoying. ;)

Safekeeping by Karen Hesse (2012)
YA / Dropbox
I'm a fan of Hesse's books usually but this one did not hit the spot for me. It had a great premise but after a fairly interesting start just meanders along. The text is accompanied by evocative b/w photos which makes this a quick read though it is not a prose novel like so many of her books are.
A girl, Radley, who has been volunteering in an orphanage in Haiti returns to the US to be with her parents after the US President is assassinated. But the country is taken over by the AAP (America's People Party)and martial law installed. Suddenly there are many new laws such as being illegal to cross state lines, cell phones forbidden, requirements to register for travel intercity, and gas & food are scarce, cash only accepted no credit cards.
After making her way on foot from the airport to her parents home in Vermont, the house is empty and fate of her parents unknown so she decides to walk to Canada. But the story turns more into an introspective look within Radley herself with the occasional dive into dumpsters for food scraps.
I read on a blog that Hesse took all the photos herself, she lives in Vermont.
I've scanned several blog reviews of the book and they are quite sympathetic to the novel and consider the addition of the photographs turn it almost into an art book. I'm not sure, I don't think the quality or choice of photos ultimately lifts this beyond a good idea that doesn't really work.

Um ya, Safekeeping sounds like one to pass on. Interesting premise, but sounds like it fell apart.

Congratulations, Kerry!

Hurray for you!

The Auschwitz Violin by Maria Àngels Anglada (2010) (1994, Spain)
fiction / short n' sweet
This novella contains a soulful Holocaust story but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. I'm probably just after happier reading at this point in time. A violinist visiting Krakow in Poland for a concert comes across a player with a violin with a beautiful tone. When he asks about the violin he gets an unexpected story of Auschwitz and of a bet between two German officers.

Yikes!!! That does sound like a beautiful story, but no, not for just any time. I'm with 7th graders this year, but I know when I'm with 8th graders and talking about the Holocaust I can only take so much before my emotions go dead and I quit responding even to the most well done, startling and heartfelt accounts. Self-protection I think. - Looks like most of the people on LT agree with you though. Ratings are pretty thoroughly distributed between 1 to 5, which averages to a solid three. You're comments sound like a three - didn't really do it for me, but it was a good story.

Yes, I didn't want to be too tough on it as I know I'm looking for a different type of read at present. I gave it 3 stars over on goodreads. It would probably translate to the big screen quite well. I liked that she managed to tell the story in 108 pages and didn't spin it out.
A more poignant read I think (relying on memory a bit here) is Cynthia Ozick's short story The Shawl.

Notes from an exhibition by Patrick Gale (2007)
fiction / iPod audio / Dropbox category
This was a deeply satisfying book, a great narrator for the audio, and I just loved how the book ended. A character driven narrative that looks back on the life of troubled bi-polar artist, Rachel Kelly. Each chapter begins with a description of an exhibit then continues with uncovering more from Kelly's life during the time that the artwork was created as well as the present in the aftermath of her death. Slowly step by step we find out about Rachel, her marriage, her children and her early years, each layer adding more to the whole.The chapters are told from different viewpoints. At first I found her life just too depressing, but as the layering continued I couldn't stop listening. The book is mostly set in Cornwall and gives an interesting insight into the Quaker religion.

The greatest show off Earth by Margaret Mahy (1995)
children's fiction, new zealand

I listened to an audio version of this book. This is one of the Mahy books that I've never got round to reading till now so I grabbed the digital download when I saw it on the library catalogue the other day. A fun story involving a lost travelling space circus, pirates, and two orphans, Delphinium & Jason with a Broom-master from the space station Vulnik.

Waiting for Robert Capa by Susana Fortes (2011)
fiction, spain / Dropbox

For such a short book I feel like I've been reading it forever. I found it dense and the style didn't appeal. While I'm really interested in the subject matter I found the descriptions of the physical side of the relationship between Capa and Taro a little too much for this type of book, descriptions in general overdone. The second half of the book was a bit easier to read as most of it was about covering the war in Spain.
A fictionalised take on the relationship between two Jewish refugees - activists who reinvent themselves in 1930s Bohemian Paris to become legendary photographers Gerda Taro and Robert Capa.
Fortes is accurate with her facts about the war coverage and the politics of 1930s Paris and this makes the book worth sticking with. There is also new book out that looks at another Capa relationship, Seducing Ingrid Bergman which looks like an interesting followup. I have Capa's WW2 memior, Slightly out of Focus on my tbr pile and have just requested my library to purchase The Mexican Suitcase: The Legendary Spanish Civil War Negatives of Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and David Seymour. I like reading novels and nonfiction accounts about the Spanish Civil War and Fortes mentions in her author notes Paul Preston's We saw Spain Die: Foreign Correspondents in the Spanish Civil War as a useful reference so I'll also be looking out for that.

I read a few reviews and recommend this Guardian one.
"Together, André Friedmann and Gerta Pohorylle would change their names and their destiny, becoming Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, the most celebrated visual chroniclers of the Spanish civil war. Together, too, they would change the nature of war photography, reinventing the form in a way that resonates to this day."

I love Mahy!!! Not many people seem to know about her in the US, but I fell in love with her writing when I borrowed an audio version of Chewing-Gum Rescue from our library. She is so funny, and she has a beautiful way with words.

Hi Katie - I love her too! I've read most of her books but haven't read many of her short story collections. I think I own more books by her than anyone else on LT as I've made a point of tracking them all down over the years.
Her picturebook The Procession was the inspiration for one of my favourite songs by Blerta - Dance all around the world (1972) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN8kVlUIxSs

I would have thought Waiting for Robert Capa would have some sort of connection or reference to Waiting for Godot, but it doesn't sound at all like that. Interesting nonetheless, but clearly something to get to when the mood is right. :)

I never really 'got' the title, though it certainly caught my attention at the bookshop.

Ooooo!!! your youtube is "blocked" in my country due to copyright. Arooo!!!

oh no -
Maybe this link will work for you - http://www.smokecds.com/track/181220
or clip 5 at about 10mins45 in here http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/blerta-revisited-2001

White Cat by Holly Black (2010)
YA urban fantasy / The Crowded Nest category
Enjoyed this dark YA. Cassel is not sure what's going on around him, something or someone is interfering with his memories, he's having intense dreams and a stray white cat is hanging around. Black gives us an interesting alternate world filled with curse workers whose ability to work charms or worse is increasingly under threat of government action. This is the first in her Curse Workers series, I'm not sure if it's a trilogy or more.
I've had this on Mt tbr for a long while so pleased to get it read. I also should read Black's Ironside.

White Cat sounds interesting so it's going on the to look out for list

White Cat was great. I adore her Tithe series. Ironside is book 2 of that one. You don't really need to read them in order though. She uses the same world but not the same characters. It's darker in it's own sort of way than White Cat, although WC is pretty dark!

Tithe was my very first Holly Black that I read and I loved it. I have a feeling it was my first urban fantasy. I'vealso read Valiant and have been meaning to read Ironside for a long time.

Actually, I get Ironside and Valiant mixed up. I've read Tithe and Valient but Ironside has been languishing on my shelves since I worked at Borders. In other words, for a very long time.

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe (2012)
memoir /Fact not fiction category
I started out enjoying this but after about the first hour and a half it became clear that I would have to re-experience the last months and days of a loved one with terminal cancer, and while he clearly doted on his mother, who had had an interesting life, I was more in for a book about books and I didn't get that here. Some will love this, but I found it too sentimental and drawn out.


The Divine Wind by Garry Disher (1998)
YA fiction / australia
Rather enjoyed this fairly mellow story set in Broome, Nth West Australia during World War Two. Young Hartley is in love with Mitsy Sennosuke, the daughter of a Japanese pearl diver who works for his father. The story follows their experiences during World War Two. The story covers the bombing of Broome, the Japanese Internment camps, and the treatment of aborigines. This won the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award (Ethel Turner Prize) in 1999.
I'm now interested to read a more in depth consideration of life in the far north west of Australia during these times.
Also of interest for me as my brother has been working in Port Hedland, just south of Broome, for a few years now driving out to the mines.

Here he is with his 'road train'

Belated happy holidays Kerry, I hope you and your family had a lovely day!

Misspent Youth by Peter F Hamilton
scifi / The Crowded Nest category
This is a stand alone short novel set in our near future and a few hundred years before Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga which I read a few months ago. I knew from the reviews that this would be a very average read and have to agree. Humans in the Commonwealth Saga undergo rejuvenation every 30 or so years and live long multi-generational lives so at times they are younger than their children or grand children but still have the wisdom of their years. The extended families have formed into powerful clans. This book is about the first human to undergo the revolutionary rejuvenation treatment, Jeff Baker, and the politics of the time. The story focuses on Jeff's teenage son, Tim. When his elderly father returns after six months away as a handsome young man who has all the impulses of youth it is a bit hard to handle especially when Jeff is in lust for Tim's beautiful girlfriend. I did enjoy the political side of the novel.
Not one I would have sought after, but I bought a whole collection of Peter F Hamilton's books several years ago on our local auction site, TradeMe and I'm slowly making my way through it, I've read about 9 of the 12. Next up will be The Void trilogy.

Hi Ilana, yes we had a quiet day.

Couldn't come up with a more apt description than "road train!!" I love reading books that take place in locales that are known to me - just adds that little extra to the story. Hope you have a great new year!!

From the look of it, you've already migrated to the next challenge. Just wanted to wish you a happy new year, looking forward to following you more closely in 2013!

Hi Anders, no I'll be back to do a last update. I have 10 hours left of this year and am trying to finish my last book by then. Very keen to start the New Year with a clean slate!

Very short comments on these, it's late and it's already 2013!


A Zoo in my luggage by Gerald Durrell (1960)
nonfiction / audiobook
fact not Fiction category
Similar in style to The Whispering Land, this is about Durrell's trip to West Africa to collect animals for his zoo, not that he has one yet, but he thought it would be a good idea to get the animals first and worry about where to house them after! I wanted a fun book to listen to and his anecdotes are hilarious.


First Love by Ivan Turgenev (1860)
novella, Russian / audiobook
Short n' Sweet category
Looking back into the past a Russian nobleman tells the story of his first experience of love. I was fascinated by this compelling story.


Crow Country by Kate Constable (2011)
YA, australia
This won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature (2012) a couple of months ago and I've had it on my 'must-read' list all year. I enjoyed the storytelling and the idea behind the plot, though like one blogger I came across after reading the book I also wonder why writers choose a European-descent child to be the protagonist in a story about indigenous cultural heritage. The blogger was quite scathing and yet lots of what she/he said felt relevant and cancelled out the many other good reviews I'd come across.
Here's the link to the review


Lunch with the Generals by Derek Hansen (1993)
fiction, australia
This was another book from my 'must read' list that I managed to squeeze in at the last minute. Derek Hansen was born in the UK, grew up in New Zealand and lives in Australia. I loved his crime caper A man you can bank on and want to read his memoir of growing up in Ponsonby, Auckland Remember Me. This is the first in his 'Lunch with' series and I've been interested in the idea of the books for a long time. A group of men meet each week at a Sydney restaurant with the sole aim of telling each other stories. They don't know each other that well and so wonder about how much truth there is in these tales. In Lunch with the Generals it is the turn of Ramon, a blind Argentinean immigrant who starts off with a story set in the 1970s during the time of 'The Disappeared'. Before coming to the end of the story, he starts another one, this time about a Dutch colonist in Java...
I enjoyed this and will read the others, they are quite light entertainment.


Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (2012)
YA, fantasy / Big Boys category
This is the second book in the trilogy and I loved it in that 'I love fantasy that's different' sort of way. Fairly grim for most of the book, like Game of Thrones is, but Taylor gives us a little light relief with some fun secondary characters. Looking forward to the final book though will be waiting till April 2014.


227) Writing in the Dark: essays in Literature and Politics by David Grossman (2008)
essays / short n'sweet category
Six essays or lectures/speeches by Grossman from 2002-2006 where he reflects on Israel and the peace process, the role of literature in our lives, and other important themes. I need to reflect longer on this and reread passages. I've read three of his novels including the two he references quite often and it was interesting to see his perspective on writing them. I found his 'Contemplations on Peace' very profound.
5 stars.


A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens (1859)
fiction / Crowded Nest category
Loved this, though it took me a while to get going on and I had to read all this evening to finish before the year ended. Great book to see out another wonderful year of reading!

Happy new year! How's 2013 so far? Still over ten hours to go here.